Who’s Rising?

Tropical Shipping/Thompson Line, No. 32 in the Top 40, Up 51.5 PercentThe Riviera Beach, Fla.-based carrier serves the Caribbean market and the Bahamas from the Port of Palm Beach, primarily handling refrigerated and frozen food, perishables and consumer goods. Owned by AGL Resources, Tropical’s strong gains have been relatively recent, jumping since the recession, but up only 1.6 percent since 2008.

Agriex, No. 40, Up 24.4 PercentThis Honduran carrier is the smallest to make the list of fastest-growing lines, handling 18,289 TEUs in 2012. But it also trails only Pacific International Lines among carriers registering the fastest growth since 2008, with a 100 percent increase over that time. In the U.S., Agriex operates out of Port Everglades and serves Central America and Jamaica.

Great White Fleet, No. 19, Up 23.8 PercentGreat White also focuses on agricultural and food shipments. Great White is the largest carrier to make this top-growing carriers list, with 2012 import volume of 163,402 TEUs. The Charlotte, N.C.-based carrier turned a century old in 2008, a year after Chiquita Brands sold the company to Eastwind Maritime and NYKLauritzenCool.

United Arab Shipping, No. 23, Up 23.7 PercentUASC is on track to maintain its rapid growth rate, after announcing plans to join China Shipping Container Lines on three trans-Pacific services from Asia to the U.S. Southwest and Pacific Northwest. The Dubai-based carrier is also one of the more evenly balanced carriers serving the U.S., handling 119,972 TEUs in imports last year and 115,894 TEUs in exports. It is one of two carriers to appear on the import and export lists of fastest-growing lines.

Pacific International Lines, No. 25, Up 23.6 PercentSingapore-based PIL is the second carrier, along with UASC, to make the list of the fastest-growing lines in both the U.S. import and export trades — ranking first with 66.6 percent growth on the export side. PIL in early 2012 added a 10th 1,500-TEU vessel to its China Transpacific Service, which calls at ports in China, Australia-New Zealand, Malaysia and Southern California. PIL’s volume of U.S. imports has soared nearly 175 percent since 2008.

Who’s Falling?

Hainan PO Shipping, No. 31, Down 68.1 PercentThis Chinese start-up company entered the trans-Pacific trade in August 2010, at the height of the economic and shipping recovery, with a service between China and Long Beach. After expanding to other West Coast ports that fall, Hainan PO’s fortunes changed when the recovery stalled. It exited the business last November, following in the footsteps of another niche start-up, The Containership Company, which went into bankruptcy in April 2011 and was liquidated several months later. Hainan PO will fall off the Top 40 rankings this year.

Horizon Lines, No. 33, Down 67.2 PercentFor Horizon, 2012 marked the culmination of four tumultuous years after it was charged with antitrust violations over price-fixing in the U.S. mainland-to-Puerto Rico trade. With Horizon facing bankruptcy, CEO Chuck Raymond stepped down in 2011. Stephen Fraser, a former CEO of Genco’s reverse logistics business, took over and stemmed the negative tide. Horizon returned to profitability in its fiscal 2013 third quarter before falling back into the red in the fourth. Fraser’s tenure as interim CEO ended last June, when Sam Woodward, previously with forwarder Traffic Tech, was named president and CEO.

CSAV Group, No. 22, Down 43.1 PercentAfter struggling through seven straight quarters of financial losses, the Chilean carrier may be getting back on track. A restructuring program implemented last year reduced container ship capacity and increased joint ventures with other carriers. And although CSAV’s U.S. 2012 import volumes plummeted year-over-year, they were still 10.4 percent ahead of 2008. The bad news is that CSAV also was one of the biggest decliners among carriers handling U.S. exports.

Matson, No. 24, Down 36.6 PercentThe second U.S.-flag operator to post a double-digit decline in import volumes, the Oakland-based carrier discontinued one of two services to China in 2011. 2012’s numbers were an anomaly for Matson, whose import volumes of 117,564 TEUs were still more than 20 percent ahead of 2008 levels.

Sea Star Line, No. 36, Down 18.8 PercentThe third U.S.-flag carrier to make the list along with Horizon and Matson, Sea Star also has battled a growing negative tide of news since 2008, when federal regulators charged the Jacksonville, Fla.-based carrier with price-fixing in the Puerto Rico trade. In January, former CEO Frank Peake was convicted of antitrust conspiracy for his role in the scheme. The carrier, whose 30,954 TEUs in 2012 imports were still 8.3 percent above 2008 levels, is in the midst of a five-year, $11 million program to upgrade its refrigerated equipment fleet.

What Will 2013 Bring?

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