Portland’s largest international container carrier, Hanjin Shipping, will restore service to Terminal 6 this weekend with the arrival of the Hanjin Mundra. The Port of Portland and terminal operator ICTSI Oregon, Inc. expect the vessel will arrive on Saturday, August 4.
Recent labor issues related to Terminal 6 operations have resulted in fewer vessel calls, impacting the flow of containerized cargo to and from the region. The decision to call Portland by Hanjin and its partner carriers is a welcome sign to the shipping community in Oregon after multiple port omissions.
“The arrival of the Mundra will certainly assist the process of restoring confidence for all industry stakeholders,” said Sam Ruda, chief commercial officer for the Port of Portland. “We are very pleased to welcome Hanjin’s container service back to Portland.”
The Hanjin service provides unique and valuable connectivity between Portland and key Asian markets, and is a vital commercial link for Oregon to trading partners in the Pacific Rim. Other such vital linkages include Hapag-Lloyd and Hamburg Süd’s weekly service to the Mediterranean and Westwood Shipping Line’s monthly service to Japan and Korea. These carriers continue to call at Terminal 6, as scheduled.
Ongoing judicial proceedings related to the labor dispute are expected to continue in the coming months. Nevertheless, parties involved in this dispute have allowed the International Longshore and Warehouse Union to perform the disputed work assignments in the interim. As such, there is every reason to expect that the return of the Hanjin service will coincide with a productive and positive terminal experience and one that shipping lines, like Hanjin, have come to expect in Portland.
