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Issue 9 2019 - FBJNA


///RO/RO


A car rolls off the Morning Carol at the Port of Brunswick’s Colonial Island facility. (Photo by Stephen B. Morton/GPA.)


Ports Roll with Ro/Ro, Optimism and Improvements


By John Jeter & Karen E. Thuermer


Trade relations between the United States, China, the EU, and our North American neighbors have a big impact on auto imports and exports. A 2019 report by Frost & Sullivan predicted a rough ride for the automotive industry this year


also includes other roll-on/ roll-off shipments such as farm equipment. US seaports report,


however, that import and export volumes in this sector increased this year. FBJNA contacted ports


found: Port of Hueme


Aside from blockbuster movies and wildfires, when you think of Los Angeles, you cture those notorious LA freeways with cars backed up for miles. Now shift your


Toyotas are on a roll at Port of Portland. (Port of Portland photo.)


At the port, cars move. Lots of them. “We


specialize in ro-ro,”


says Dona Toteva Lacayo, the Chief Commercial & Public Affairs Officer at the port, whose


name—pronounced


“why-NEE-me”—is a variation on a Chumash Indian phrase that means “resting place” or “halfway point.” Hueneme may be a halfway from, say, Asia to the


point


rest of the US, but the port is hardly a resting place. In FY 2019,


the terminal handled


342,510 autos, an 11% increase in overall volumes and a 13% jump in imports within the last year, Lacayo says. Of the port’s $9.5 billion in


with global sales off. It also predicted that Brexit, USMCA and the US-China trade war would continue to cast dark shadows on this sector that


around the country to learn how they’ve faired and any ongoing developments to accommodate this important trade sector. Here’s what we


focus to the Port of Hueneme, roughly 65 miles from Hollywood and less than a day’s drive from one of the nation’s biggest auto markets.


annual cargo revenue, half comes from ro/ro, she says, adding, “Volumes remain steady, and we are moving forward with investments including modernizing our terminal, deepening the harbor, and acquiring energy- efficient equipment.” HYUNDAI Glovis and BMW


“continue to bring through significant volumes,” she says,


Subarus disembark from the NYK Line’s Hyperion Leader at Port of Vancouver, USA. (Port of Vancouver USA photo.)


and in October 2018, the port welcomed Subaru models from Japan. Three processing facilities


are within a mile of the port, and this year, officials say, Wallenius Wilhelmsen Solutions took advantage of an expansion at the 65-acre Oxnard Vehicle Processing Center, which can now handle an additional 30,000-plus vehicles annually.


Port of San Francisco


Further up the coast, the Port of


San Francisco handled


30,000 autos in 2018 and is projected to finish 2019 with 130,000 autos. Most of the ro/ ro shipments are exports. “Multiple carriers call at the port with Glovis being


the most frequent,” states port spokesperson Brenda O’Meara. “The port is finishing the third full calendar year of ro/ro operations and has experienced significant growth each year.”


Port of Portland


The Port of Portland reported an approximate 7% increases in ro/ro business over the last year. “Looking


at fiscal year


numbers through June, we are up from both last year and the year prior,” says Randy Fischer, Maritime Industry Consultant, in Oregon’s Port of Portland. Volumes rose from nearly to


314,000 more


than 13 >>


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