Port's loss may raise shipping costs for region

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Disturbing account of what can happen to shippers when a line decides to leave a port. In this case its South Korean carrier Hanjin, which currently accounts for around 80% of the throughput at the US north-west coast port of Portalnd., The port is the scene of a long-running three-way dispute between terminal operator ICTSI, the port authority and the local stevedore union, the ILWU. The cause of the dispute: two jobs at the terminal monitoring reefer plugs which have been carried out by electricians from a non-LIWU affiliated union. The cost to the regional economy: well over $100m and loss of hundreds of jobs.