Harbors

Mexico will postpone construction of its planned Punta Colonet port on the Pacific Coast and may scrap the project entirely as interested bidders struggle to find financing for the $4.88-billion complex. The first simultaneous recession in the U.S., Japan and Europe since World War II has led to a 30% drop in port traffic on the U.S.

The worldwide economic storm might ease by the end of the year, an economist told a gathering Wednesday of international shipping lines, terminal operators, retailers and trucking companies in Long Beach. "The very worst part of this particular business cycle is occurring in this quarter, but as we move forward through the rest of the year, the decreases will diminish until the fourth quarter, when we actually move into the positive range," said Joseph P.

The chief executive of one of the nation's biggest railroads spent Monday promoting a plan to build a $300-million rail yard close to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, where cargo containers would be loaded directly onto trains instead of being trucked up the Long Beach Freeway. Matthew K. Rose, chairman, chief executive and president of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, touted the project, which would be located four miles from the ports.

At Southern California's twin ports, there is a growing feeling that the economic tide has begun to turn. Imports are down. Experts expect another year of little or no cargo growth in 2008. And other harbors are getting serious about luring business away from Los Angeles and Long Beach, the nation's largest seaport complex, and other West Coast ports.

Mexico's government is preparing to open bidding on the largest infrastructure project in the nation's history, a $4-billion seaport that could transform this farming village into a cargo hub to rival the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. If completed as planned by 2014, the port would be the linchpin of a new shipping route linking the Pacific Ocean to America's heartland.

An effort to ease daytime traffic at Southern California's major ports is working better than anyone imagined, shifting 40% of freight movements away from peak business hours, the program's manager will announce today. But some say the push to move cargo at night and on Saturdays doesn't go far enough to ease congestion and other ill effects on neighboring communities.

California regulators adopted the world's toughest pollution rules for oceangoing vessels Thursday, vowing to improve the health of coastal residents and opening a new front in a long battle with the international shipping industry. The rules, which take effect in 2009, would require ships within 24 nautical miles of California to burn low-sulfur diesel instead of the tar-like sludge known as bunker fuel.

The Ventura City Council has approved plans to develop one of the last vacant waterfront parcels in Southern California. The council voted Monday to rezone a nearly 25-acre tract and amend its coastal development plan to accommodate 300 apartments and 20,000 square feet of commercial space next to Ventura Harbor.

The military thwarted a suicide attack by Tamil Tiger rebels on the capital's port when it destroyed three suspicious boats offshore, officials said. The three suspected rebel boats had entered a "high security zone" near Colombo's port -- a vital lifeline for the island country -- where unauthorized vessels are not allowed, a Defense Ministry official said. The boats did not heed an order to stop, forcing the navy and air force to sink them, the official said.

Six major U.S. port operations will come under U.S. ownership after Dubai Ports World cleared a $50-million hurdle Friday to end a yearlong political conflict over security at the nation's cargo terminals. Dubai Ports World, based in United Arab Emirates, agreed in December to sell its U.S. ports operations to New York-based AIG Global Investment Group after months of criticism that the UAE firm could not be trusted running the security-sensitive shipping apparatus.