Two cruise ships in Astoria today, more to come

Today we'll look at an unusual occurrence in Astoria: two cruise ships in town on the same day. One will anchor at the Port of Astoria. The other will anchor off the downtown waterfront and take passengers to and from land in a small boat called a launch.

We'll also talk about the spring and fall cruise ship calendar for blue water (ocean) cruises coming to Astoria.

Loss of Portland container service could hit small businesses hard

Today we take a look at a business story about the fallout in a port on the East Coast that recently lost container service in a disaster. In Baltimore, we saw a container ship destroy a bridge, and huge and awful consequences for that city and its people.

As that city recovers and efforts continue to clean up the debris, the loss of container service has hit small businesses there hard that used to receive inventory via container ships.

Something similar in terms of shipping, but thankfully minus the disaster, could happen in our region if the Port of Portland ends container service. We'll take a look at the impacts on small businesses when container service abruptly ends.

Who's on the river today?

Today we'll look at ships coming and going on the river and what's on board.

Beached boat on the Long Beach Peninsula shows hazards of coastal waters

A look at where cargo goes after it reaches port

Today we'll take a look at some common arriving cargoes on the Columbia, and what happens to them after they are unloaded from the ship that brought them here.

More about general average liability for cargo owners - potentially daunting...

Turns out quite a bit. Disasters are a reason why most companies shipping cargo have insurance against this sort of event. If they don't, it could be devastating.

Port of Woodland to add terminal on the Columbia

Continuing our discussion about changes in ports and cargo service on the Columbia, today we'll talk about the decision by the Port of Woodland to buiild a marine terminal and being serving cargo ships for the first time. The port has a partnership with a cement company that will help make it happen.

We'll talk about what an official port district is, compared to a private port, and also about the ebb and flow of cargo services on the river.

Containers out of Astoria?

The big maritime news locally this week is the announcement by the Port of Portland that they will end container ship service to the Port's Terminal 6 as of October 1. The decision will mean the Columbia River will no longer have container service, since Portland is the only port with the infrastructure and equipment to handle containers.

Portland has gained and lost container service over the past two decades. The most recent round of container service began during the pandemic, when the Port of Portland served as a overflow port for overcrowded ports on the West Coast. The service has continued with several container ships per week transiting the river.

According to this week's news reports, that service will cease at the end of September. The hope is that this will only be temporary.

The pricey maritime law of "general average"

There's an ancient tenet of maritime law that is cropping up in reports about the catastrophe in Baltimore harbor with the containership Dali. It's called "general average," and it has to do with who pays when a ship runs into expensive trouble during a voyage.

This law can force those customers whose cargo is on the ship to help pay for the cost of the disaster. Mostly it ends up being a complex negotiation between many insurance companies, but it could be an expensive caveat for small businesses who may not have insured their cargo sufficiently.