As business interests again pressed the government to intervene in the East/Gulf Coast longshoremen dispute, the International Longshoremen's Association outlined its disagreements with the shippers' contract offer, and ports began to prepare for a strike beginning Dec. 30.

The American Association of Port Authorities is focusing its 2013 Public & Government Relations Workshop on crisis communications and management, it said. The workshop will be Feb. 21-22 at the DoubleTree Hilton Hotel San Pedro, in Los Angeles. It will include an interactive crisis planning session and a half-day crisis communications tabletop drill. "In today's world where the news cycle is nonstop and transparent communications are expected, especially in the public sector, it's vital that public affairs and government relations professionals have the skills to communicate effectively under pressure," said AAPA President Kurt Nagle.

The International Longshoremen's Association is advising local unions to prepare for a strike beginning at 12:01 a.m. Dec. 30, in a memo from International President Harold Daggett. It said the locals should establish strike committees that will schedule picket duty, prepare signs that "use only language approved" by the ILA, and that "there shall be no violence on any ILA picket line."

Port of Charleston container traffic was up nearly 12 percent in November, the South Carolina Ports Authority said. The port handled 125,780 20-foot-equivalent units (TEUs), an 11.9 percent increase from the same month last year, for a more than 9 percent increase during the calendar year to date, it said. The figures "are slightly off of aggressive projections set for the year thus far [but] Charleston continues to grow at a much faster rate than competing ports," said SCPA President Jim Newsome. Breakbulk tonnage also showed strong gains for the month, with non-containerized volume increasing nearly 24 percent in November, it said, reaching 117,118 pier tons at its facilities in Charleston and Georgetown in November.

Moody's Investors Service affirmed an A1 rating for the South Carolina Ports Authority's debt, with a stable outlook. It cited the agency's strong operating history, favorable financial performance and distinct advantages such as deep water. It said the SCPA's competitive advantages, such as proximity to open ocean, highly productive operations and a deep-water harbor, mean "the authority will be well-positioned after the Panama Canal expansion is completed" in 2015.

The Canadian government's decision to sell Ridley Terminals in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, was supported by the Ridley Terminals Users Group, it said. Ridley Terminals is a critical component of the Western Canadian export logistics chain and a key enabler of delivering Canadian resource products to international markets, the group said. The government said it intends to divest the terminal to a buyer that will operate it with open access on a long-term sustainable basis. "An open access model whereby rates are set to motivate sustainable throughput is critical in ensuring that all existing and potential shippers can successfully operate and develop current and future mining assets," the users said. Doug Smith, chair of the Ridley Terminals Users Group, said: "A fully-enabled Ridley Terminals will ensure the long-term viability of the asset, for the benefit of the Western Canadian coal market and, related, local communities and economies throughout British Columbia and Alberta."

Discussions on a labor agreement between the International Longshoremen's Association and the U.S. Maritime Exchange are to continue this week, the USMX said. It said the talks this week will mainly involve Container Royalty payments.

Container imports at the Port of Long Beach rose 20.2 percent in November, and exports were up 24.6 percent compared to the same period a year ago, port officials said. Port terminals handled 555,513 twenty-foot equivalent container units (TEUs) overall, up 20.8 percent from November 2011, as more ocean carriers added services to Long Beach in recent months. After mostly declining traffic in the middle of the year, the late boost helped bring Port cargo volumes closer to 2011 levels, they said. For the first 11 months of the year, imports are virtually flat compared to the same period a year ago, down 0.3 percent, and exports are up 2 percent. Overall container volume was down 1.2 percent through November due mainly to a decline in empty container traffic, which is down 5.9 percent in the same period.

Negotiators for an East Coast-Gulf longshoremen contract agreed to continue meeting next week, at least until Dec. 18, in Newark, N.J., officials said (here). The talks will continue with a small negotiating committee, they said after talks Dec. 10-12 in Delray Beach, Fla. The parties have agreed to make no statements about the talks, and have not even confirmed press reports that the union has authorized International Longshoremen's Association President Harold Daggett to call a strike Dec. 29 if the talks fail.

The Florida East Coast Railway signed a joint marketing agreement with Port Everglades to promote the new 42.5-acre near-port intermodal container transfer facility, which is expected to break ground in early 2013 and be completed in Spring 2014, they said. The agreement calls for joint promotions including international business development, the creation of promotional materials, shared sponsorships and milestone events.