Air-cargo options studied
| • | Shipping lines, workers refuse to yield as ports idle |
By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer
Hawaii air-cargo companies began receiving a flurry of calls yesterday as 29 ports from California to Washington were idled by the latest dock dispute and businesses and consumers began making contingency plans for delivering goods to the Islands.
Cargo companies said they received calls ranging from concerned food distributors and freight consolidators to consumers needing to ship cars — even a construction firm wanting to get a giant Caterpillar crane.
Some Hawai'i freight consolidators even have begun asking if they can rent jets — at about $150,000 a round trip for a 747 cargo plane — should the West Coast port shutdown run into next week.
Most of the calls yesterday were contingency plans for delivering goods to Hawai'i since many businesses have been stocking up for weeks as tensions have escalated. Still, it will not be long before goods other than milk and some produce could run low and become more expensive because of higher air shipment costs, according to retailers and suppliers.
"I think we're OK for a week, a week-and-a-half," said Thomas Ingram, Honolulu station manager for Pacific Air Cargo, which operates 747 cargo planes between Los Angeles and Hawai'i five times a week. "Other than that, I think it will get crazy."
Because of the disruption, ships under way now likely will deliver the last goods via ship for at least several days, forcing businesses to tap inventories they built up above normal in anticipation of the labor difficulties since July.
Barry O'Connell, president of HFM Food Service, which supplies hotels, restaurants, hospitals and other nonretail businesses, said yesterday that his company has two to three weeks of extra inventory and can make substitutions if needed.
"We took some proactive steps early on, and maintain a higher inventory than normal," he said.
O'Connell added that suppliers of perishable produce will have to turn to air shipments sooner.
Armstrong Produce, which had some products sitting on the dock in Los Angeles, decided to fly the product out today.
Roger Godfrey, president of Times Super Market Ltd., said some perishables are still on their way via ship, so he doesn't expect any mad dash to stores.
"I think the consumer has got quite a bit of inventory on hand," he said. "They have a lot in their cupboards."
Vicky Caluya, domestic manager for Danzas/AEI, an air and sea freight forwarder, expects air cargo bookings to pick up midweek.
"I think people are kind of holding their breath for now," she said.
Acrimony between the association of shipping companies and West Coast longshore workers is not instilling much optimism that the vital link supplying more than 90 percent of all goods to Hawai'i will be reopened.
Yesterday, both sides met briefly but did not discuss the No. 1 issue, technology, and instead left shipping company representatives with a pension proposal to study.
The union and the shipping association agreed to meet today with a federal mediator to explore options, though the union has not agreed to mediation.
The shipping companies maintain that organized work slowdowns cost them more than closed ports, and that dockworkers will not be allowed back until they agree to re-extend the contract, which prohibits deliberate work slowdowns.
The lockout, which began Friday, was lifted briefly Sunday before an indefinite resumption that blocked entry to West Coast ports for about 30 ships, including two operated by Matson Navigation Co., Hawai'i's largest ocean transportation firm.
"It's one day at a time," Jim Andrasick, Matson's president and chief executive, said as the Ewa and Kauai cargo ships anchored yesterday outside the ports of Los Angeles and Oakland, respectively.
Of Matson's six other ships in service, one was headed toward Oakland yesterday while one was at a Sand Island terminal in Honolulu where stevedoring operations continue to proceed normally. That ship, the Lurline, is scheduled to depart for Los Angeles tonight.
Another, the Manulani, set sail yesterday for Seattle. Three others are headed to Honolulu for arrivals today and Thursday, but with only partial loads because of loading disruptions, Andrasick said.
It was unclear if Matson's competitor, CSX Lines, had any ships en route to Hawai'i from the West Coast as of yesterday.
Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8065.
