maritime freight

Was Gordon Lightfoot’s song about the Edmund Fitzgerald accurate?

FreightWaves Classics is sponsored by Old Dominion Freight Line — Helping the World Keep Promises. Learn more here.

In the wake of the death of musician Gordon Lightfoot and his famous folk song, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” FreightWaves Classics is taking a look back at the wreck itself and the historical accuracy of the song.

“The ship was the pride of the American side/ Coming back from some mill in Wisconsin/ As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most/ With a crew and good...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/was-gordon-lightfoots-song-about-the-edmund-fitzgerald-accurate

FreightWaves Classics /Infrastructure: Champlain Canal opened the Champlain Valley to settlers and commerce

The Champlain Canal Lock C5 in Hudson Crossing Park. (Photo: hudsoncrossingpark.org)

FreightWaves Classics is sponsored by Old Dominion Freight Line. Click to find out how we can help your business keep its promises.

As noted in earlier FreightWaves Classics articles about canals, the years between 1800-1850 have been termed the Canal Era in U. S. history. From the earliest days of the nation, America’s leaders understood the need for a network of internal improvements to make transportation of people and goods easier. The success of the Erie Canal marked a period of intensive...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-classicsinfrastructure-champlain-canal-opened-the-champlain-valley-to-settlers-and-commerce

Texas ports report record-breaking container, crude oil volumes

Ports in both Houston and Corpus Christi, Texas, achieved record-breaking results in June from shipments of oil drilling products and autos, and increases in crude oil and refined products exports.

Port Houston reaches TEU record in June

For the second consecutive month, Port Houston hit a record for monthly container volumes, handling 323,823 twenty-foot equivalent units, an 11% year-over-year increase over the same period last year.

In May, Port Houston handled 335,000 TEUs, a record for the...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/texas-ports-report-record-breaking-container-volumes

FreightWaves Classics/Infrastructure: Montauk Point Lighthouse was first US public works project

The Montauk Point Lighthouse. (Photo: Pamela Bednarik/U.S. Coast Guard)

William Kidd, also known as Captain Kidd, was a Scottish sea captain who was commissioned as a privateer and was also a pirate. Following a trial that heavily involved politics, he was executed in London in 1701 for murder and piracy. Stories swirl that Captain Kidd buried treasure in two ponds that are near the foot of where the Montauk Point Lighthouse now stands. This supposedly took place around 1699, and the two ponds are called “Money Ponds” today.

Captain Kidd in New York Harbor, in a c. 1920 painting by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris. (Image: Wikipedia)Captain Kidd in New York Harbor, in a...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-classicsinfrastructure-montauk-point-lighthouse-was-first-us-public-works-project

FOSC chat: Data visibility key for shippers navigating maritime slowdowns

discussion on visibility in ocean freight beyond ports

This fireside chat recap is from Day 1 of FreightWaves’ Future of Supply Chain live event in Rogers, Arkansas. For more information and content from the event, click here.

FIRESIDE CHAT TOPIC: Navigating maritime freight disruptions by taking visibility beyond the ports

DETAILS: Port congestion has been one of the biggest topics in freight over the past few years. And for good reason — at one point in November, there were nearly 60,000 long-dwelling containers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/fosc-chat-data-visibility-key-for-shippers-navigating-maritime-slowdowns

FreightWaves Classics/Fallen Flags: American Diamond Lines and Black Diamond Steamship Co.

This ship was similar to those owned by Black Diamond. (Photo: uboat.net)

An intertwined history  

The Black Diamond Steamship Company (BDSC) was established in 1919 following World War I by J.E. Dockendorff. He sought to build a line of passenger and cargo ships. 

Meanwhile, the American Diamond Lines was founded at about the same time by the United States Shipping Board (USSB). As noted in an earlier FreightWaves Classics article, the USSB was established as an emergency agency by the 1916 Shipping Act on September 7, 1916. Once the U.S. entered World War I, the...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-classicsfallen-flags-american-diamond-lines-and-black-diamond-steamship-co

FreightWaves Classics/Fallen Flags: US Shipping Board controlled US shipping for nearly 20 years

U.S. ships in port during World War I. (Photo: National Park Service)

The U.S. Shipping Board (Shipping Board or USSB) was established on April 16, 1917, as an emergency government agency in accordance with the provisions of the Shipping Act of 1916, which was passed by Congress on September 7, 1916. The corporation’s mandate was to “acquire, maintain and operate a fleet of merchant ships to meet the needs of national defense and foreign and domestic commerce.” 

Background

By the 1910s, U.S. vessels had been at a disadvantage to foreign ships and the nation’s...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-classicsfallen-flags-us-shipping-board-controlled-us-shipping-for-nearly-20-years

Chinese lockdowns will create shocks to American supply chains (but China is the biggest loser)

Shanghai's zero-COVID lockdown continues.

What happens in China doesn’t stay in China. And for American supply chains, that is usually a good thing. American businesses have become dependent on low-cost goods coming from Chinese suppliers. But in a post-COVID world that may be entering the Second Cold War, reliance on China means that American businesses are held hostage by an autocratic regime that seems oblivious to the damage it is doing to its own economy, much less the global one. 

Since the earliest days of COVID-19, China has...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/chinese-lockdowns-will-create-shocks-to-american-supply-chains-but-china-is-the-biggest-loser

FreightWaves Classics/Infrastructure: US transferred police powers in Panama Canal Zone 40 years ago

A ship in the canal. (Photo: Panama Canal Authority)

The two Torrijos-Carter Treaties are treaties signed by the United States and Panama in Washington, D.C. on September 7, 1977. The 1977 treaties superseded the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty of 1903. The 1977 treaties guaranteed that Panama would gain control of the Panama Canal and the Panama Canal Zone on December 31, 2000, ending the control of the canal that the U.S. had exercised since 1903. 

Between the signing of the treaties and the formal transfer of the Canal Zone, there were intermediate...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-classicsinfrastructure-us-transferred-police-powers-in-panama-canal-zone-40-years-ago

FreightWaves Classics/Infrastructure: Port Corpus Christi is nation’s largest energy export gateway

A ship at Port Corpus Christi. (Photo: Port Corpus Christi)

This is the latest in a periodic series that profiles U.S. ports. While the ports have similarities, all have different histories and many focus on certain cargoes. The nation is fortunate to have ports along its three coasts, major rivers and the Great Lakes.

Overview

The Port of Corpus Christi (Port Corpus Christi) is located on the south-central coast of Texas in the western Gulf of Mexico and on the southern shores of Corpus Christi Bay. The port is 190 nautical miles southwest of the Port...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-classicsinfrastructure-port-corpus-christi-is-nations-largest-energy-export-gateway

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