[maryz]

From an article in today's WSJ:

Int he 1970s and 1980s, U.S. flag shipping lines, carring high labor costs and tax and regulatory burdens, faced increasingly tough competition from foreign companies, which employed low-cost Asian crews and operated under flags of convenience from countries with mroe relaxed regulatory and tax policies. Over time, several American companies were bought by foreign owners. In 1997, APL was bought by Singapore's NOL. In 1999, CSX Corp. sold Sea-Land to AP Moller-Maersk, the Copenhagen-based operator of the largest container-shipping network in the world.

The American divestment was driven partly by economics in an industry where margins are historically low. . . .

At the same time, the foreign ship lines were securing leases to operate container terminals in the US and buying terminal-operating companies. West Coast port authorities in particular were eager to lock in the foreign ship lines by leasing them terminals so thatthe ship lines had a reason to stay and were less able to play one port against another to try to get the best deal.

I've learned more than I ever wanted to know about how ports run!

[American Quilter]

Int he 1970s and 1980s, U.S. flag shipping lines, carring high labor costs and tax and regulatory burdens, faced increasingly tough competition from foreign companies, which employed low-cost Asian crews and operated under flags of convenience from countries with mroe relaxed regulatory and tax policies.

Thanks so much for this info. It confirms what I'd suspected. And sorry for the delayed response--work keeps intefering with my Freeping!