The first shipment of South American blueberries arrived Jan. 8.

“We’re excited to enter this new partnership with Giumarra International Berry, which highlights the Georgia Ports Authority’s commitment to the refrigerated cargo market,” said GPA Executive Director Curtis Foltz. “Because of our direct interstate access, as well as having two Class I rail services on our facility, we can serve the Atlanta and Southeast regions more efficiently by importing this fresh produce directly through the Port of Savannah.”

Importing berries from the Southern Hemisphere since the late 1990s, Giumarra maintains a well established farm network in Chile, Argentina, and other Central and South American countries. The region’s growing season, which runs opposite to the Northern Hemisphere, helps to meet U.S. demand after domestic farms end production.

“Saving money going north and west is the reason we are here. The Port of Savannah has a streamlined flow which is very fast and efficient, and it’s only five minutes from I-95,” said Alan Abe, East Coast General Manager, Giumarra International Berry. “Also, the Georgia Ports Authority gives us a high level of customer service.”

Shipments of conventional and organic blueberries will arrive in Savannah through late March or early April. Giumarra officials are expecting a larger crop than last season, with some experts predicting an increase of 15 percent. Giumarra International Berry has a packing plant in Alma, Ga., which has the ability to pack bulk produce into pack sizes based on customer need in real time.

U.S. blueberry imports are increasing at a rapid pace from Mexico and the Southern Hemisphere and are considered one of the hottest categories in fresh produce, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Chilean blueberry imports have increased $128 million, or nearly two and a half times, in the past four years.

“We are looking forward to the upcoming Chilean blueberry season and we will have a complete Nature’s Partner program of blueberries from the Southern Hemisphere. Our sourcing team works continuously to ensure we have adequate supply, and our volumes will exceed last year’s,” said Tom Richardson, Vice President, Global Development, Giumarra International Berry.

“Giumarra’s program is much like the service we provide to Georgia’s sweet onion producers, who use South American farmers to supply the U.S. market after the domestic growing season has ended,” said Foltz. “In this way, it helps to maintain steady demand while providing the freshest produce for consumers.”

  During this time, “K” LINE has maintained its’ presence via the various permutations determined by its’ partnership arrangements.

To mark the occasion of M/V Helsinki Bridge maiden call, a delegation of “K” LINE  ITALIA headed by its President and Managing Director, Carlo Besozzi together with some of its’ main Italian clients visited La Spezia Container Terminal. On the occasion of the official crest delivery to the master of the 8,500 TEUs containership,  Lorenzo Forcieri, President of La Spezia Port Authority and Michele Giromini,  LSCT General Manager, presented the updated container terminal development plan following the new concession agreement signed on the 29th October 2012.

The previous  “K” LINE containership calling at La Spezia was the M/V Akashi Bridge (220m LOA and 32m of beam) on the 1st of August 2007. Today, the Helsinki Bridge containership (335 m LOA and 46 m of beam) reflects the change in the deployed tonnage with increasingly larger ships in the Mediterranean confirming LSCT infrastructure developments to accommodate latest generations of containerships.

“We started our latest quay cranes investment plan 2 years ago” said Michele Giromini “and today we are the only container terminal in the north Tyrrhenian sea able to operate simultaneously two ULCC’s ships of 14.000 TEUs and up to 9.500 TEUs with 5 cranes x 20 rows on Fornelli East Berth and 4 cranes x 18 rows plus 1 x 16 rows on Fornelli West Berth, where additional upgrades will continue during 2013 and we are more than satisfied that that we are in tune with the needs of our customers. As with “K” LINE ship sizes have developed in a short time and I wish to ensure to our valued customer “K” LINE, specifically on this occasion, that we are “ready for the future, today”. If “K” LINE wishes to deploy more larger units, then LSCT is a natural choice. The La Spezia system is at your service!”

“In the last year, considering the ships operated within the CKYH alliance, we increased over more than 30% our volumes in La Spezia” said Carlo Besozzi, President and Managing Director of “K” LINE  ITALIA. “The quality and reliability of the rendered services makes La Spezia a natural option to serve our customers who acknowledge and appreciate the high focus of our own dedicated service to them in Italy. Our clients can further benefit from the substantial number of rail connections which ensure that La Spezia as one of the most environmental friendly logistic gateway in South Europe”.

“In the last part of 2012 we recorded positive signs and increasing interest from the market for La Spezia Port and LSCT in particular. This was evidenced by a 4.1% December’s container movements increase compared to same month 2011 – said Lorenzo Forcieri, President of La Spezia Port Authority  -. We trust 2013 will mark the economic recovery and this important new “K” LINE service represents a tangible step forward.

The port rotation of the MD1 service includes: Quingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo,  Yantian, Hong Kong, Shekou, Singapore, Suez, Piraeus, La Spezia, Genoa, Barcelona, Valencia, Piraeus, Suez, Singapore, Hong Kong.

Most notably, the port handled 2,105,887 TEUs, an increase of 9.8 percent when compared with 2011; only 22,479 TEUS separated 2012 from 2007, which is the port’s best year on record for TEUs.

“The Port of Virginia posted an 18.9 percent increase in containers and a 20.4 percent increase in TEUs handled in December 2012 compared to 2011,” said Rodney W. Oliver, the Virginia Port Authority’s interim executive director. “That made the sixth month in 2012 in which the port recorded a double-digit monthly increase year-over-year and the eleventh consecutive month of positive growth year-over-year in these two categories.”

The 2012 cargo total and the percentage of increase over 2011 are:

• TEUs: 2,105,887, up 9.8%

• Containers: 1,209,822, up 9.8%

• General Cargo Tonnage: 17,513,093, up 12.1%

• Total Rail Containers: 385,804, up 16.8 %

• Barge Containers: 8,009, up 82.5%

• Ship Calls: 1,963, up 7.4%

The cranes, scheduled for delivery in late 2013, will facilitate the port’s continued expansion, with capacities planned to increase from 2.6 MTEU to 3.1 MTEU per year. The order has been booked into Cargotec’s 2012 fourth quarter order intake.

PCT, operating in Greece since 2009, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of COSCO Pacific Limited, a world-leading container terminal operator. This latest order further consolidates Kalmar’s long term partnership with the terminal, as Mr. Li, Deputy General Manager of PCT confirmed: “Once we install the 12 RTGs from Kalmar, the stacking capacity of our terminal will increase by 30%, and we believe that our terminal will achieve reduced operating costs with increasing throughputs, by turning to the advanced technological solutions Kalmar has consistently delivered, ultimately gaining higher reputation.”

“We currently operate with Kalmar straddle carriers, reachstackers, forklift trucks, empty container handlers and terminal tractors. The latest Kalmar E-One2 Zero Emission RTGs, fitted with SmartRail, an automatic gantry steering system, offer an exceptional solution to our stringent requirements for higher capacity, reduced carbon emissions, lower costs of ownership and safer operation around the yard. The Kalmar E-One2 Zero Emission RTG applies new technologies without compromising container terminal productivity, reliability or flexibility, which we consider to be tremendous achievements,” Mr. Li concluded.

The Kalmar E-One2 RTGs have each a 41 ton SWL capacity and also benefit from zero emissions, through incorporating a cable reel which provides an electric power system that eliminates all diesel emissions, engine noise and the use of hydraulic oils.