2 firms to jointly run terminal (China Ocean Shipping Co and Yang Ming)

Daily Breeze ^ | June 13, 2003 | By David Zahniser

[AnimalLover]

PORT OF L.A.: Pact between China Shipping and Yang Ming compels closer scrutiny in enforcing settlement

China Shipping and the shipping company Yang Ming have agreed to jointly run a terminal at the Port of Los Angeles, forcing port officials to come up with ways of ensuring that a recently approved court settlement is still enforced.

Three months after a landmark settlement of an environmental lawsuit allowed the port to complete a terminal at Berth 100, China Shipping still has not moved into the space.

Harbor officials said they are still in talks with both China Shipping and Yang Ming to make sure that ships used by the two companies at the terminal are powered with electricity starting March 2004 — one of the settlement’s requirements.

China Shipping already plans to build two ships capable of being run by electricity, said port Executive Director Larry Keller.

“We believe we’ll have those two China Shipping vessels ready to go before (the 2004 deadline),” he said.

Whether Yang Ming will do the same is still unknown, however. And the delayed arrival of China Shipping has sparked rumors in the Harbor Area that the company might not move into the terminal after all.

Even if China Shipping decides not to occupy the terminal, the port will still be required to comply with the provisions of the China Shipping legal settlement, said Gail Feuer, senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council.

“We knew that this was a possibility so we intended for the agreement to be bulletproof,” she said.

Environmentalists and homeowner groups sued the port in 2001 over the China Shipping terminal, successfully shutting down work on the project for several months. The lawsuit was settled in March, resulting in a precedent-setting agreement that required the port to provide $50 million worth of environmental projects to San Pedro and Wilmington.

The settlement also called for the China Shipping terminal to use low-emission vehicles and low-profile cranes. And it required the terminal to become the first to require “cold ironing,” using electricity to power ships that are at port.

Mayor James Hahn said Thursday that he expects all of the settlement’s provisions to be followed, no matter who occupies the terminal.

“I believe that we’re going to be implementing that settlement agreement,” he said. “That’s what our goal is — to change the way the port works and how it relates to the community.”

Officials with China Shipping could not be reached for comment on Thursday. But both Hahn and Keller said they expect China Shipping will still occupy its terminal near the western entrance of the Vincent Thomas Bridge.

While China Shipping’s terminal is completed, vessels used by the company have been calling at the nearby Yang Ming terminal. Since the two terminals are next to each other, a joint use agreement is not surprising, harbor officials said.

Still, Keller conceded one of the more complicated provisions of the settlement agreement is one that calls for cold ironing. Some ships used by China Shipping and Yang Ming arrive in Los Angeles as infrequently as once a year, making a retrofit for electric power financially prohibitive.

The port has already released the first $10 million for environmental improvements in the Harbor Area. Keller said the port remains committed to paying for the remainder of the projects included in the settlement — and working with China Shipping.

“We’re scrupulously following our agreement, and it’s working out well,” he said. “They’re a very agreeable partner.”

[El Gato]

And most importantly, china has BUPKES (yiddish word meaning nothing or none) for heavy lift capability.

How much stuff you suppose you can get onto one, or several, of those containerships? Take a look here> for a list and pictures of 97 of China Shippings' ships. Granted they'd be Red meat for our Aircraft and Submarines once any shooting started. Unless they have containerised SAM and ASW systems.

[AnimalLover]

Thanks for the URL site for Homeland Security. I have
written them with my concerns and will let you know if
I ever receive an answer.

[The Westerner]

I know someone who works down at those docks. I've asked about container inspection. You can bet that a lot of those containers will never be inspected. Ask yourself how the Chinese smuggled AK-47s to the street gangs in L.A.?

[AnimalLover]

Ask yourself how the Chinese smuggled AK-47s to the street gangs in L.A.?

They have contacts here. My neighbor is a criminal
attorney who practices in Long Beach. My neighbor has
been in many discussions with the Asst. District Attorney
concerning some clients and how they got ahold of AK-47's.

[GOP_1900AD]

Now wouldn't it be interesting, for example, if your neighbor's contacts at the DA were to have a chat with Kevin Ryan, US Atty up here in SF, regarding not only this, but also, Chinese espionage in the US high tech industry, something which Kevin's already got cases into the docket on.....

Just a thought...

Mark