CMA CGM Boxship Slices Into Pier at Port in Estonia

Courtesy CMA CGM

Published Sep 10, 2025 9:48 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

A large boxship has run into a quay at the small port of Muuga, Estonia, causing damage and cutting a chunk out of the wharf. 

At about 1150 hours UTC on September 8, during an arrival from Kotka, CMA CGM Mermaid allided with the quay at Muuga's container terminal. Images obtained by local media show significant local damage to the quay, which the ship's  plumb bow sliced into by several meters. An adjacent bulker, the Belasitza, was also damaged at the bow. The extent of any damage to the boxship was not immediately disclosed. 

As of the morning of September 11, CMA CGM Mermaid was still moored alongside the quay wall at Muuga. 

CMA CGM Mermaid is a novel new house-forward container feeder with a capacity of 2,000 TEU, one in a series of 10 sister ships designed by Chantiers de l'Atlantique and HHI. Delivered just last year, the vessel is designed for CO2 savings of up to 20 percent. Like many modern boxships built for lower speed and higher efficiency, she has a sharp, plumb bow, a design feature that tends to ease penetration of waves.

 

Port of Long Beach Resumes Operations After Container Collapse

The floating containers have been retrieved where they are doing sonar searches for debris below the surface (USCG)

Published Sep 10, 2025 4:38 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

 

The Port of Long Beach, California, is reporting that all its terminals have resumed operations a day after the dramatic container collapse on a berthed vessel. Pier G, where the vessel Mississippi is berthed, is open and operating except for the immediate area around the vessel.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, a day after the collapse, the Port of Long Beach now reports that there was one minor injury tied to the incident. They avoided a worse situation, especially with the emissions barge that was alongside and attached to the containership when some of the containers collapsed onto the barge. The U.S. Coast Guard reports the barge sustained damage. Other containers collapsed onto the dock alongside the ship.

Additional videos have been released showing the sequence of events. After the first collapse, it appears the area around the vessel had been roped off for safety before the subsequent collapse. The situation continued with additional boxes that had been hanging from the ship also giving way and falling overboard. 

 

 

The Unified Command for the incident, which consists of federal, state, and local agencies, is working to ensure the recovery of the cargo containers. The Coast Guard raised the estimated number of 75 containers from the 67 it reported yesterday. 

Sonar surveys are being conducted to locate approximately 25 to 30 containers submerged in the harbor to ensure the safe navigation of ship traffic. The Coast Guard is maintaining a 500-yard safety zone, and a salvage plan is being developed and will be implemented as soon as possible.

The port has clarified that the manifest shows shoes, apparel, furniture, and electronics as the cargo. The vessel operates one of Zim’s express services, making only four port calls: Vietnam, China, and California. TV reports from the port showed images of a chair floating in the water as well as packages of slippers washing ashore.

The Long Beach Fire Department used one of its fireboats with high-powered nozzles to corral and direct the containers. They were seen pushing them toward a berth area as well as harbor boats that were being used to nudge the boxes toward the dock. The port said in its statement on Wednesday that the fallen containers had been recovered.

 

Floating containers were moved into a secure location away from vessel traffic (Port of Long Beach)

 

Speculation is mounting on the cause of the incident. It is unclear if the ship, which had arrived earlier in the morning, had begun container handling.  The published schedule reflected a planned departure later today for the return to Vietnam.

The Mississippi, registered in Portugal, was built in 2024. It had undergone five port state inspections, the last in April 2025 in Shanghai. It was cited for deficiencies, including with its Voyage Data Recorder and the crew’s safety drill, but did not receive a detention. 

Operations are continuing at the port to stabilize the containers aboard the vessel, including several that are continuing to be suspended over the side of the ship as well as the collapsed stacks. The U.S. Coast Guard reports it will be leading an investigation into the incident as will the National Transportation Safety Board.

Deal Finalized to Save Oregon’s Only International Container Terminal

Despite an inland location, Portland looks to grow container operations (Port of Portland)

Published Sep 10, 2025 6:53 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

After more than 15 months of effort, the Port of Portland (Oregon) has completed a long-term agreement for the operation of Terminal 6, which is the state’s only active international container terminal. The port had announced in early 2024 that it planned to close the terminal due to mounting financial losses and the collapse of negotiations for a private operator.

"Scores of businesses throughout Oregon rely on Terminal 6 to ship their goods," said Governor Tina Kotek, who played a critical role by providing interim financing and state support to keep the terminal operating. "Oregon communities will be better off because we came together and worked toward this shared goal."

While it is located more than 100 miles from the ocean, the port plays a vital role in the state’s agricultural and seafood sectors. Without the port, they would have had to truck goods through other ports, raising costs. However, in 20214, with high fixed operating costs, loss of a rail service partner, BNSF, that had provided a connection to Seattle and Tacoma, and collapse of negotiations for a potential private operator, the port authority said it had no choice but to begin winding down the operation. It was pointed out that the Columbia River is shallow, limiting the size of vessels that can reach the port. In addition, it is a relatively small consumer market.

“The Port of Portland is the gateway connecting our farms, small businesses, and manufacturers to global markets,” noted Representative Shelly Boshart Davis.

The Port has been rebuilding container service since 2018 and was working to secure a private operating partner, highlighting that Terminal 6 is an important piece of Oregon’s economic infrastructure. California-based Harbor Industrial, which had been providing stevedoring services, reached a tentative agreement last December to become the operator.

The company will lease the 200-acre facility from the port authority for an initial seven-year term. It also has four options to extend the lease for a total of 20 years. Harbor has agreed to purchase seven new cranes for the terminal and will pay the port rent based on the amount of cargo it moves through the port. It will take over both the container and breakbulk operations at Terminal 6 as of December 31.

In June, Oregon legislators also approved $20 million recommended by Governor Tina Kotek for necessary capital improvements at the terminal. 

The port and Harbor Industrial report they are committed to maintaining the significant benefits of shipping goods through Oregon ports. The port released a long-term plan that calls for doubling the size of the operation, and together they said they look forward to continued operations and growth of the container terminal.

Croatia Marks Opening of New Rijeka Terminal as a Gateway for the Region

The first vessel arrived to official mark the commercial operating of the new terminal (APM)

Published Sep 10, 2025 6:07 PM by The Maritime Executive

Officials gathered in the Port of Rijeka, Croatia, to mark the arrival of the first commercial container vessel as the port transitioned from trial operations. Rijeka Gateway, they reported, represents the largest private investment in logistics in Croatia, and it becomes the most modern and technologically advanced container terminal in the region. 

The concession for the new terminal was awarded in November 2021, creating a joint venture between Maersk’s APM Terminals and ENNA Group. Croatia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure, Oleg Butkovi?, highlights that it was the largest agreement in the history of the Port of Rijeka.

Maersk committed to a €380 million ($445 million) investment for the operations, which have been under construction for the past two years. It includes a 400-meter (1,300-foot) quay, which was in part financed with a World Bank loan, along with construction of access and internal roads, a new intermodal terminal, and rail interface. The terminal will have an initial annual capacity of 650,000 TEU, and they are also making investments in hinterland and terminal equipment.

“This terminal is more than just infrastructure. It is a symbol of Rijeka as a modern, sustainable, and technologically advanced port that creates value and drives both the local and national economy,” said Peter Corfitsen, CEO of Rijeka Gateway.

Emphasizing its role as a regional center, the Rijeka Gateway Terminal is being included in the new Gemini Cooperation between Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd. It becomes part of the route linking ports in East Asia with locations in the Mediterranean and Adriatic Sea.

The first commercial vessel to berth at Rijeka Gateway was Al Jasrah (157,374 dwt). Built in 2016, the vessel is registered in Liberia and operated by Hapag-Lloyd. It has a capacity of approximately 15,000 TEU. It was arriving from Port Said, Egypt.

After a planned expansion, the port will grow to 680 meters (2,230 feet) of quay and a capacity of over one million TEU. The terminal is equipped with four remotely operated ship-to-shore cranes (STS), 15 rubber-tired gantry cranes (RTG), two rail-mounted gantry cranes (RMG), and 28 terminal tractors. All systems are integrated into a single control center, and terminal operations will be managed with cutting-edge technology, full automation, and renewable energy, making Rijeka Gateway the first terminal of its kind in the Adriatic region.

MONOPOLY CAPITALI$M

Union Pacific to buy Norfolk in US$85-billion mega U.S. railroad deal

By Reuters
Updated: July 29, 2025

A

 Union Pacific train travels through Union, Neb., July 31, 2018. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File)

Union Pacific said on Tuesday it would buy smaller rival Norfolk Southern in an US$85-billion deal to create the country’s first coast-to-coast freight rail operator and reshape the movement of goods from grains to autos across the U.S.

If approved, the deal would be the largest-ever buyout in the sector and combine Union Pacific’s stronghold in the western two-thirds of the United States with Norfolk’s 19,500-mile network that primarily spans 22 eastern states.

The two railroads are expected to have a combined enterprise value of $250 billion and would unlock about $2.75 billion in annualized synergies, the companies said.

The $320 per share price implies a premium of 18.6 per cent for Norfolk from its close on July 17, when reports of the merger first emerged.

The companies said on Thursday they were in advanced discussions for a possible merger.

The deal will face lengthy regulatory scrutiny amid union concerns over potential rate increases, service disruptions and job losses. The 1996 merger of Union Pacific and Southern Pacific had temporarily led to severe congestion and delays across the Southwest.

The deal reflects a shift in antitrust enforcement under U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration. Executive orders aimed at removing barriers to consolidation have opened the door to mergers that were previously considered unlikely.

Surface Transportation Board Chairman Patrick Fuchs, appointed in January, has advocated for faster preliminary reviews and a more flexible approach to merger conditions.

Even under an expedited process, the review could take from 19 to 22 months, according to a person involved in the discussions.

Major railroad unions have long opposed consolidation, arguing that such mergers threaten jobs and risk disrupting rail service.

“We will weigh in with the STB (regulator) and with the Trump administration in every way possible,” said Jeremy Ferguson, president of the SMART-TD union’s transport division, after the two companies said they were in advanced talks last week.

“This merger is not good for labor, the rail shipper/customer or the public at large,” he said.

The companies said they expect to file their application with the STB within six months.

The SMART-TD union’s transport division is North America’s largest railroad operating union with more than 1,800 railroad yardmasters.

The North American rail industry has been grappling with volatile freight volumes, rising labour and fuel costs and growing pressure from shippers over service reliability, factors that could further complicate the merger.

Union Pacific’s shares rose as much as two per cent in premarket trading, while Norfolk fell 2.45 per cent.

Consolidation

The proposed deal had also prompted competitors BNSF, owned by Berkshire Hathaway, and CSX, to explore merger options, people familiar with the matter said.

Agents at the STB are already conducting preparatory work, anticipating they could soon receive not just one, but two megamerger proposals, a person close to the discussions told Reuters on Thursday.

If both mergers are approved, the number of Class I railroads in North America would shrink to four from six, consolidating major freight routes and boosting pricing power for the industry.

The last major deal in the industry was the $31-billion merger of Canadian Pacific CP.TO and Kansas City Southern that created the first and only single-line rail network connecting Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.

That deal, finalized in 2023, faced heavy regulatory resistance over fears it would curb competition, cut jobs and disrupt service, but was ultimately approved.

Union Pacific is valued at nearly $136 billion, while Norfolk Southern has a market capitalization of about $65 billion, according to data from LSEG.

(Reporting by Shivansh Tiwary and Sabrina Valle, additional reporting by Abhinav Parmar, Nathan Gomes and Mariam Sunny. Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila, Pooja Desai, Dawn Kopecki and Cynthia Osterma)

 

Oregon’s Port of Portland Rescue Plan Calls for Doubling Container Volume

Portland Oregon presented its plan as part of the governor's aid package for the container operations (file photo)

Published Aug 27, 2024 6:40 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

The Port of Portland, Oregon’s only ocean-going seaport, submitted its revised comprehensive business plan to Governor Tina Kotek as part of the state’s promise to lead a rescue of the financially troubled container terminal operations. The operation is currently losing more than $12 million a year but with state aid, they envision doubling container volume over the next five to seven years as the operation reaches financial sustainability and provides a vital service to Oregon’s businesses.

Governor Kotek required the revised plan as part of her pledge to provide financial support to maintain the container service. With mounting financial losses and the collapse of negotiations for a private operator, port officials in April said they faced no choice but to suspend container operations as of October 1.  A month later, however, it reversed course after the governor promised to provide stop-gap funding and said she would include long-term investments and funding for channel maintenance in the state’s budget. In total, she is proposing $40 million in future support to the port for its container operations.

The port emphasizes the financial contribution it makes to the state and is a vital service to businesses primarily in the agricultural sector. Seafood, grain, animal feed, building supplies, tires, and more all move through the port. Many shippers prefer the nearby port versus sending their goods overroad to Washington state’s larger ports. However, like many smaller, regional ports, Portland found itself under pressure when the pandemic-induced shipping surge slowed.

The Port of Portland writes in its plan that it has sustained financial losses due to factors outside its control. It is more than 100 miles from the ocean and the Columbia River has limited depth to accommodate the largest vessels. In addition, it is a relatively small consumer market and port officials in the past said they were hurt by the loss of a rail service partner BNSF that had provided a connection to Seattle and Tacoma.

The port’s biggest problem however came from a long-running dispute between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and then operator of T6 ICTSI. The operator ultimately ended its contract because of the jurisdictional labor dispute and the port assumed direct control of the terminal. The labor issues have been settled but it further chased away shippers.

The port calls for negotiating new rates with the container shipping companies and says it has negotiated labor efficiencies with ILWU and fee reductions with the terminal’s stevedores for containers. They are now working on a new marketing plan but admit that volume is the most critical factor. Next year they believe they can add 10 percent to the current volume of just around 600,000 TEU annually. That would contribute nearly $1 million to operating income. They project cutting losses to around $10 million annually.

The port however says it cannot sustain the operation without significant investment from the state. Governor Kotek promised $5 million in immediate operational support from the state’s Joint Emergency Board which is due to meet in September. The governor also promised $35 million in her budgets between 2025 and 2027 which would provide an additional $20 million in investment capital and $15 million for dredging and improvements in the river. However, the governor’s plan says as much as $70 million would be required for the river with the state seeking to renew grants from the federal government.

The port says it has subsidized the container operations despite significant financial losses over many years. The business plan addresses the governor’s concerns and they point out it has received strong support from the business community including importers and exporters and major businesses including supermarket operator Kroger and Columbia Sportswear. Labor representatives are also vowing to support the efforts to rescue the port’s container operations.

Terminal 6 has berths for five vessels and seven container cranes, including four Panamax cranes. The bulk of the port’s volume is in RoRo and bulk cargo which would not be impacted if the container operations do not continue. 

GUESS WHO?!

Roads reopened after train derails, destroys bridge in Boulder, Colo.

Boulder, Colo., police said Friday that roads closed by a BNSF train derailment Thursday night are open again. The cause of the derailment is under investigation. Initial reports erroneously said two trains had collided. Photo courtesy BNSF

Aug. 23 (UPI) -- Boulder, Colo., police Friday said all roads closed by a Thursday night' BNSF train derailment are reopened. Two crew members had minor injuries and a rail bridge was destroyed, according to police.

Initial reports that two trains had collided were inaccurate. Just one train derailed.

"Good news! ALL the roads are now reopened!, " Boulder Police said on X. "The BNSF Railway has now taken the lead on the train wreck that happened last night."

Police have not said what caused the train to derail close to 48th Street and Arapahoe Avenue north of Boulder Community health Hospital.

BNSF Railway is investigating the cause, which is expected to take at least several days.

Several roads were closed when the one-mile long train derailed. They were reopened Friday morning.

There was initial concern that fuel may have spilled and leaked into Boulder Creek, but officials later said they believed sand spilled in the derailment absorbed the fuel and it did not go into the water.

Xcel Energy worked to repair a power line hit by the train.

 

LA/Long Beach Rail Union Reaches Labor Agreement Far in Advance

TraPac rail terminal, Port of Los Angeles (File image courtesy Port of LA)

PUBLISHED JUL 14, 2024 2:16 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

 

In an era of contentious labor relations in the ports sector, news of an amicable and timely contract negotiation is a rarity - but the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) and the rail line for the vital San Pedro Bay port complex have achieved it. The two sides have announced that they have ratified a three-year extension of their current collective bargaining agreement, far ahead of deadline. 

The extension is retroactive to May 1 and extends through September 2027. It includes a "fair" 13 percent raise over three years to offset inflation, and a continuation of the current employee contribution levels for health benefits.  The 145 employees of the Pacific Harbor Line (PHL) approved it by a margin of nine to one on Friday. The cooperative tone of the joint announcement was a departure from the combative note sounded by other port unions and employer bargaining associations, and it focused on the need to ensure the success of the twin ports of LA and Long Beach - collectively, the biggest container-freight gateway in the United States.

"This is a great win for the organization and our members," BLET General Chairman Brian Carr  said. "The contract contains no changes to our health and medical plan and provides 13 percent wage increases over two years. PHL and the organization have worked well together through this process to ensure no disruptions."

PHL provides carrier-neutral transportation, maintenance, and dispatching services to the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, including dispatching for all BNSF and Union Pacific trains on the 100 miles of rail line in the port complex. The high-capacity trains are essential for the success of LA/Long Beach: they transport millions of containers a year from San Pedro Bay to inland markets, particularly in the Midwest. 

While BLET has had a contentious relationship with national Class 1 railroads, including a near-strike in 2022, PHL is a subsidiary of an independent regional/local rail holding company and has not been affected by previous disagreements. 

"Our employees are the backbone of our operations. This CBA extension ensures that they are fairly compensated and that we maintain a safe and reliable rail network," PHL President, Otis Cliatt II. "It also prevents any potential disruption to the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach operations, which are critical links to our economy."

In January, PHL agreed to a bonus program that will pay its union employees up to $18,000 in retention bonuses if they stay with the rail line for the next two years - and if PHL is picked to carry on as the switching company for the Ports of LA and Long Beach from 2026 onward. 

BAD BNSF
Judge orders railway to pay Washington tribe nearly $400 million for trespassing with oil trains


This photo provided by the Washington Department of Ecology shows a derailed BNSF train on the Swinomish tribal reservation near Anacortes, Wash. on March 16, 2023. A federal judge on Monday, June 17, 2024 ordered BNSF Railway to pay nearly $400 million to a Native American tribe in Washington state after finding that the company intentionally trespassed when it repeatedly ran 100-car trains carrying crude oil across its reservation.

 (Washington Department of Ecology via AP)

BY GENE JOHNSON
June 17, 2024Share

SEATTLE (AP) — BNSF Railway must pay nearly $400 million to a Native American tribe in Washington state, a federal judge ordered Monday after finding that the company intentionally trespassed when it repeatedly ran 100-car trains carrying crude oil across the tribe’s reservation.

U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik initially ruled last year that the railway deliberately violated the terms of a 1991 easement with the Swinomish Tribe north of Seattle that allows trains to carry no more than 25 cars per day. The judge held a trial earlier this month to determine how much in profits BNSF made through trespassing from 2012 to 2021 and how much it should be required to disgorge.

“We know that this is a large amount of money. But that just reflects the enormous wrongful profits that BNSF gained by using the Tribe’s land day after day, week after week, year after year over our objections,” Steve Edwards, chairman of the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, said in a statement. “When there are these kinds of profits to be gained, the only way to deter future wrongdoing is to do exactly what the Court did today — make the trespasser give up the money it gained by trespassing.”

The company based in Fort Worth, Texas, said in an email it had no comment.

The tribe, which has about 1,400 members, sued in 2015 after BNSF dramatically increased, without the tribe’s consent, the number of cars it was running across the reservation so that it could ship crude oil from the Bakken Formation in and around North Dakota to a nearby refinery. The route crosses sensitive marine ecosystems along the coast, over water that connects with the Salish Sea, where the tribe has treaty-protected rights to fish.

Bakken oil is easier to refine into the fuels sold at the gas pump and ignites more easily. After train cars carrying Bakken crude oil exploded in Alabama, North Dakota and Quebec, a federal agency warned in 2014 that the oil has a higher degree of volatility than other crudes in the U.S.

Last year, two BNSF engines derailed on Swinomish land, leaking an estimated 3,100 gallons (11,700 liters) of diesel fuel near Padilla Bay.

AP correspondent Jackie Quinn reports on a massive damage award to a Native American tribe that accused a rail company of trespassing.

The tribe pointed out that a corporate predecessor of BNSF laid the tracks in the late 19th century over its objections. The tribe sued in the 1970s, alleging decades of trespassing, and only in 1991 was that litigation settled, when the tribe granted an easement allowing limited use of the tracks.

The easement limited rail traffic to one train of 25 cars per day in each direction. It required BNSF to tell the tribe about the “nature and identity of all cargo” transported across the reservation, and it said the tribe would not arbitrarily withhold permission to increase the number of trains or cars.

The tribe learned through a 2011 Skagit County planning document that a nearby refinery would start receiving crude oil trains. It wasn’t until the following year that the tribe received information from BNSF addressing current track usage, court documents show.

The tribe and BNSF discussed amending the agreement, but “at no point did the Tribe approve BNSF’s unilateral decision to transport unit trains across the Reservation, agree to increase the train or car limitations, or waive its contractual right of approval,” Lasnik said in his decision last year.

“BNSF failed to update the Tribe regarding the nature of the cargo that was crossing the Reservation and unilaterally increased the number of trains and the number of cars without the Tribe’s written agreement, thereby violating the conditions placed on BNSF’s permission to enter the property,” Lasnik said.

The four-day trial this month was designed to provide the court with details and expert testimony to guide the judge through complex calculations about how much in “ill-gotten” profit BNSF should have to disgorge. Lasnik put that figure at $362 million and added $32 million in post-tax profits such as investment income for a total of more than $394 million.

In reality, the judge wrote, BNSF made far more than $32 million in post-tax profits, but adding all of that up would have added hundreds of millions more to what was already a large judgment against the railway.

The tribe said it expects BNSF to appeal the ruling.

BNSF Railway says it didn’t know about asbestos that’s killed hundreds in Montana town

WARREN BUFFET'S CHOO CHOO


- In this April 27, 2011, file photo, the entrance to downtown Libby, Mont., is seen. BNSF Railway attorneys are expected to argue before jurors Friday, April 19, 2024, that the railroad should not be held liable for the lung cancer deaths of two former residents of the asbestos-contaminated Montana town, one of the deadliest sites in the federal Superfund pollution program. 

(AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)

- Dr. Lee Morissette shows an image of lungs damaged by asbestos exposure, at the Center for Asbestos Related Disease, Thursday, April 4, 2024, in Libby, Mont. BNSF Railway attorneys are expected to argue before jurors Friday, April 19, 2024, that the railroad should not be held liable for the lung cancer deaths of two former residents of the asbestos-contaminated Montana town, one of the deadliest sites in the federal Superfund pollution program.

 (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)

- Environmental cleanup specialists work at one of the last remaining residential asbestos cleanup sites in Libby, Montana, in mid-September. BNSF Railway attorneys are expected to argue before jurors Friday, April 19, 2024, that the railroad should not be held liable for the lung cancer deaths of two former residents of the asbestos-contaminated Montana town, one of the deadliest sites in the federal Superfund pollution program.

 (Kurt Wilson/The Missoulian via AP, File)

BY MATTHEW BROWN AND AMY BETH HANSON
 April 18, 2024


HELENA, Mont. (AP) — BNSF Railway attorneys are expected to argue before jurors Friday that the railroad should not be held liable for the lung cancer deaths of two former residents of an asbestos-contaminated Montana town, one of the deadliest sites in the federal Superfund pollution program.

Attorneys for the Warren Buffett-owned company say the railroad’s corporate predecessors didn’t know the vermiculite it hauled over decades from a nearby mine was filled with hazardous microscopic asbestos fibers.

The case in federal civil court over the two deaths is the first of numerous lawsuits against the Texas-based railroad corporation to reach trial over its past operations in Libby, Montana. Current and former residents of the small town near the U.S.-Canada border want BNSF held accountable for its alleged role in asbestos exposure that health officials say has killed several hundred people and sickened thousands.

Looming over the proceedings is W.R. Grace & Co., a chemical company that operated a mountaintop vermiculite mine 7 miles (11 kilometers) outside of Libby until it was closed 1990. The Maryland-based company played a central role in Libby’s tragedy and has paid significant settlements to victims.

Asbestos victims in Montana want Buffett’s railroad company held responsible

U.S. District Court Judge Brian Morris has referred to the mining company as “the elephant in the room” in the BNSF trial. He reminded jurors several times that the case was about the railroad’s conduct, not W.R. Grace’s separate liability.

Federal prosecutors in 2005 indicted W. R. Grace and executives from the company on criminal charges over the contamination in Libby. A jury acquitted them following a 2009 trial.

How much W.R. Grace revealed about the asbestos dangers to Texas-based BNSF and its corporate predecessors has been sharply disputed.

The railroad said it was obliged under law to ship the vermiculite, which was used in insulation and for other commercial purposes, and that W.R. Grace employees had concealed the health hazards from the railroad.

Former railroad workers said during testimony and in depositions that they knew nothing about the risks of asbestos. They said Grace employees were responsible for loading the hopper cars, plugging the holes of any cars leaking vermiculite and occasionally cleaned up material that spilled in the rail yard.

Former rail yard worker John Swing said in previously recorded testimony that he didn’t know asbestos was an issue in Libby until a 1999 newspaper story reporting deaths and illnesses among mine workers and their families.

Swing also said he didn’t think the rail yard was dusty. His testimony was at odds with people who grew up in Libby and recall dust getting kicked up whenever the wind blew or a train rolled through the yard.

The estates of the two deceased plaintiffs have argued that the W.R. Grace’s actions don’t absolve BNSF of its responsibility for knowingly exposing people to asbestos at its railyard in the heart of the community.

Their attorneys said BNSF should have known about the dangers because Grace put signs on rail cars carrying vermiculite warning of potential health risks. They showed jurors an image of a warning label allegedly attached to rail cars in the late 1970s that advised against inhaling the asbestos dust because it could cause bodily harm.

BNSF higher-ups also should have been aware of the dangers because they attended conferences that discussed dust diseases like asbestosis in the 1930s, attorneys for the plaintiffs argued.

The Environmental Protection Agency descended on Libby after the 1999 news reports. In 2009 it declared in Libby the nation’s first ever public health emergency under the federal Superfund cleanup program.

The pollution in Libby has been cleaned up, largely at public expense. Yet the long timeframe over which asbestos-related diseases can develop means people previously exposed are likely to continue getting sick and dying for years to come, health officials say.

Family members of Tom Wells and Joyce Walder testified that their lives ended soon after they were diagnosed with mesothelioma. The families said the dust blowing from the rail yard sickened and killed them.

In a March 2020 video of Wells played for jurors and recorded the day before he died, he lay in a home hospital bed, struggling to breathe.

“I’ve been placed in a horrible spot here, and the best chance I see at release — relief for everybody — is to just get it over with,” he said. “It’s just not something I want to try and play hero through because I don’t think that there’s a miracle waiting.”
___

Brown reported from Billings, Mont.

 

Oregon’s Port of Portland to Suspend Container Operations as Losses Grow

Portland will suspend container operations due to mounting financial losses (file photo)

PUBLISHED APR 16, 2024 7:01 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

 

Oregon’s only ocean seaport, the Port of Portland, informed shippers yesterday that it plans to suspend container operations as of October 1. Like many smaller, regional ports, volumes increased during the pandemic as they provided an alternative to the congested major seaports but as the industry returned to normal volumes, Portland has seen its financial losses grow.

Port executive Keith Leavitt wrote to shippers saying they had decided to suspend the operation after negotiations with a potential third-party operator collapsed last week. He said they had not expected this outcome but without the prospects of an operator, mounting financial losses, and the lack of financial support from the state, they needed to suspend container operations. The port will continue to handle its RoRo car and vehicle operations as well as break bulk and heavy cargo.

The port cited its fixed costs saying that it had made it difficult to expand the container service and more costly for shippers using the port. They had hoped to have a larger operator that could spread the costs over broader operations. They said while volumes had steadily increased since 2019, the port has lost more than $30 million from the container operations over the past three years, including a projected $14 million shortfall this year.

While Terminal 6 has berths for five vessels and seven container cranes, including four Panamax cranes, port officials acknowledged the facility “faces a number of unique challenges.” It is more than 100 miles from the ocean and the Columbia River has limited depth to accommodate the largest vessels. In addition, they said it is a relatively small consumer market and they were further hurt by the loss of a rail service partner BNSF that had provided a connection to Seattle and Tacoma.

Suspending the container operation will be especially difficult they said for the agricultural and seafood sectors which use the port. They will have to truck goods through other ports, raising costs. Container operations also supported as many as 1,500 jobs in the region.

As late as last month, port executives were holding out hope that they could maintain the container operation. They had asked the state for $10 million in support but lowered the request to $8 million after meeting with carriers who committed to helping with the operation. The goal however was a long-term lease with a third-party terminal operator.

It is not the first time the port has had problems with its container operations. In 2010, it made a deal with ICTSI to operate the container terminal but the company became embroiled in a labor dispute that dragged on for years. The labor slowdown began in 2012 and by 2015 carriers were leaving the port. ICTSI pulled out of Portland in 2017. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) filed for bankruptcy in 2023 due to the dispute but finally reached a settlement agreement with ICTSI in 2024.

The port became its own manager for container operations. In 2020, they marked the return of container service including an agreement with SM Line.

Lawmakers failed to include the financial support in the state’s new budget but left open the possibility of future discussions. Port officials said they were still looking for future alternatives but currently, they do not have the funding necessary to maintain the operations.

BNSF

Asbestos victim's dying words aired in wrongful death case against Buffet's railroad

AMY BETH HANSON and MATTHEW BROWN
 Mon, April 15, 2024 


 Environmental cleanup specialists work at an asbestos cleanup site in Libby, Montana, on Sept. 13, 2018. A lawsuit being tried in federal court alleges BNSF Railway knew the vermiculite it was hauling through Libby from a nearby mine was tainted with asbestos. The railroad denies the allegations. 

(Kurt Wilson/The Missoulian via AP, File)

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Thomas Wells ran a half-marathon at age 60 and played recreational volleyball until he was 63. At 65 years old, doctors diagnosed him with mesothelioma, a rare and aggressive lung cancer linked to asbestos exposure.

“I’m in great pain and alls I see is this getting worse,” the retired middle school teacher from Oregon said in a video deposition recorded in March 2020, four months after his cancer diagnosis. He died a day later.

Portions of Wells' deposition were replayed Monday in a federal courtroom for a jury hearing a wrongful death case against Warren Buffett’s BNSF Railway.

The estates of Wells and a second mesothelioma victim accuse the railroad and its corporate predecessors in a lawsuit of polluting Libby, Montana, with asbestos-contaminated vermiculite from a nearby mine that was transported through the remote town’s rail yard in boxcars for much of last century.

BNSF attorneys have denied the claims and are scheduled to lay out their defense beginning Tuesday. They've said that railroad officials were unaware the shipments were hazardous.

A cleanup of the contaminated rail yard in downtown Libby was largely completed in 2022.

The trial is the first alleging BNSF exposed community members in Libby to asbestos fibers that can cause lung scarring and mesothelioma. It comes almost 25 years after federal authorities arrived in the community not far from the U.S.-Canada border following news reports about toxic asbestos dust causing widespread deaths and illnesses among mine workers and their families.

Numerous other lawsuits from asbestos victims have been filed against BNSF.

The W.R. Grace & Co. mine that operated on a mountaintop outside Libby produced contaminated vermiculite that health officials say has sickened more than 3,000 people and led to several hundred deaths.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2009 declared the first-ever public health emergency during a Superfund cleanup in Libby. It’s one of the deadliest sites under the federal pollution program. The agency banned remaining industrial uses of asbestos last month.

Wells said in the 2020 deposition that he believed he was sickened while working for the U.S. Forest Service in the Libby area for about six months each in 1976-78 and again in 1981. He never went to the vermiculite mine, he said, but described wind kicking up dust along the railroad tracks at the rail yard.

“It was dusty. You know, you’d wash the car and pretty soon you have to wash the car again,” Wells said.

The second plaintiff, Joyce Walder, played in the same area in her youth before dying of mesothelioma at 66.

Mine operator W.R. Grace repeatedly told the railroad’s corporate predecessors that the product it was shipping through Libby was safe, according to BNSF attorney Chad Knight. Local officials also believed the vermiculite was safe, and the railroad couldn’t legally reject the loads, he said.

“You have to go back and look at what the information was at the time,” Knight told jurors during opening statements last week. “The materials coming from the mine were being used all over town. No one suspected there was anything unsafe about the products.”

Knight has also sought to cast doubt on whether the BNSF rail yard was the source of the plaintiffs’ medical problems, since asbestos dust was prevalent in the Libby area when the mine was operating.

Tainted vermiculite was used in Libby's high school track, a baseball field next to the rail yard, as a soil amendment in home gardens and as insulating material in homes across the U.S.

The plaintiffs’ attorneys showed jurors several insurance claims for tons of asbestos that leaked out of rail cars in the 1970s and did not make it to its destination, and an example of a placard that was put on a rail car in the late 1970s saying it contained asbestos fibers and to avoid creating dust.

Residents of Libby have described encountering vermiculite along BNSF tracks where children in the community often played.

When kicked up by wind or a passing trains, asbestos fibers from that vermiculite “can remain airborne for hours if not days depending on conditions,” said plaintiffs expert Steven Compton, who directs the private laboratory MVA Scientific Consultants in Georgia.

Thomas Wells' son Sean Wells described his father during Friday testimony as a “wonderful teacher” and “just the best dad,” who he could talk to about anything and coached their sports teams.

“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about my dad and wish I could pick up the phone and call him,” Sean Wells said. “He wasn’t only our dad. ... He was our best friend. We did everything together.”

Walder died in October 2020 — less than a month after her diagnosis.

She grew up in Libby and could have been exposed to the microscopic, needle-shaped asbestos fibers while fishing and floating on a river that traveled past a spot where a conveyor belt loaded vermiculite onto train cars, according to court records. Additional exposure may have also come from playing around a baseball field near the rail yard, walking along the railroad tracks and spending time at the home of a friend who lived near the rail yard. She also returned to Libby to visit family.

After her diagnosis Walder underwent chemotherapy and surgery. In a follow-up appointment Walder's family was told the cancer had come back even worse.

“I hope no one has to see the light of hope pass from a parent’s or loved one’s eyes, because that is something you will never forget,” Walder’s daughter, Chandra Zechmeister, testified Monday.

___

Brown reported from Billings, Mont.

 Commentary

BNSF Desperate for an Inflection

Written by Rick Paterson, Managing Director, Loop Capital Markets

• March 15, 2024
 
• Class I

• 
  

The Smokehouse Creek wildfire in Texas, which severed BNSF’s Transcon route on February 27, was the latest in a series of problems that have significantly slowed BNSF’s network and impacted service. After running well as recently as December, BNSF now finds itself in a hole.

We were hoping for an inflection in network velocity in the week following the wildfire effect, ending March 8, but instead we saw another sequential deterioration, from 25.1 to 24.8 mph. Within this number, Manifest service average speed fell from 22.3 to 21.7 mph, and Intermodal from 30.1 to 29.5 mph. All these speeds are materially lower than where they bottomed during the Arctic Blast in the third week of January, and except for Manifest you need to go back to June 2022—in the depths of the service crisis—to find comparable numbers.

Just as worrisome is the recent increase in cars on line. From a weekly average of 248,000 in 2023, it rose to 256,000 in January, 261,000 in February, and hit 263,326 the week of March 4, which is a high we haven’t seen since November 2019. Part of this is simply due to higher volumes as BNSF handily leads the industry in terms of YTD volume growth (+5.5%), but there’s also no doubt a worrying congestion element that threatens the speed at which the network can get back in sync.

A good way to adjust for volumes and sanity check car congestion is to look at “cars per carload,” which is basically a ratio of rolling stock relative to the loads they’re transporting. In the chart below, we’ve divided weekly intermodal units by two to account for double-stacking, and added that count to non-intermodal loads to get total “carloads.” We then divide cars on line by this number to generate cars per carload, with the lower the ratio the better. If we look at BNSF’s recent history, this averaged 1.6 in 2017 and 2018, then between 1.8-1.9 in each year between 2019 through 2023. You can see by the green columns that it sometimes spikes above two times, and it was 2.1 the week of March 4 (red circle). So even after adjusting for the current strength in intermodal volumes, there’s still some evidence of car congestion. Our assumption of a two-week bounce back from the wildfire effect now looks too optimistic, and it may be more of a slower grind higher.

In terms of critical resources, trains holding for crews and power also both deteriorated sequentially the week of March 4: crews from 31 to 39 per day, and power from 13 to 17 per day. To put this in perspective, these topped out at 167 (crews) and 38 (power) during the service crisis, so thankfully we’re nowhere near those levels. Also notice we haven’t yet used the “M word” (meltdown) because BNSF has ample crews; albeit there are some crew districts with too few and others with too many, so there are imbalances to iron out. This, of course, isn’t unique to BNSF.

The bottom line is that BNSF needs to be careful here, because after what we all went through in 2022 there will be no tolerance from its stakeholders and Washington D.C. for another bout of extended service failures from a major railroad. We’re at least assured that BNSF is a quality organization that fully understands the urgency of the situation.

Tags: BNSF, Loop Capital Markets, Opinion