Steamship

The Steamship Trade Association of Baltimore is close to finalizing an $18 million loan agreement that would allow the port employers' group to finance a buyout of an expensive program that pays Longshoremen when they are not working.Sources at the port say a lump sum of about $10,000 would be offered to each member of the 1,800-member Longshoremen's association under the buyout. If accepted, the plan could cut labor costs at the port by $12 million a year by 1996.But the Longshoremen are fiercely protective of the Guaranteed Annual Income (GAI)

The Maryland Port Administration has embarked on a reorganization of Dundalk Marine Terminal, the largest dock complex in Baltimore, to give steamship lines there some of the same advantages now available only at the state's new, high-tech Seagirt Marine Terminal.The basic concept is simple. Instead of a crazy quilt pattern of separate storage areas for each major steamship line scattered across Dundalk's 570 acres, two private terminals will be carved out of the acreage adjacent to the large public terminal's principal container cranes.

Polish Ocean Lines, one of the most important steamship lines in the port of Baltimore, has no plans to shift vessels to Hampton Roads, Va., now that the line has received permission to call there.Until last week, 12 militarily sensitive ports in the United States, including Hampton Roads, were off limits to vessels from Eastern bloc nations. On May 8, President Bush lifted that prohibition on ships from Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland and Romania.Krzysztof Tyc, the senior representative for POL in North America, said yesterday that while he welcomed the decision, he did not expect the line to shift ships from Baltimore to Hampton Roads.

The Maryland Port Administration and Maersk Inc. have renegotiated a contract that reflects the Danish steamship line's significantly reduced service at the port of Baltimore.The latest contract replaces an unprecedented 10-year deal that Maersk signed in 1991, agreeing to bring 30,000 containers and 50 ships a year to the port, in exchange for highly favorable terms for using services at the state-owned Dundalk Marine Terminal.Last year, however, Maersk broke that contract after it formed an alliance with Sea-Land Service Inc., another steamship line, and shifted much of its service from Baltimore to Norfolk, Va., where Sea-Land is dominant.

Cooper/T. Smith, a nationally prominent stevedoring company, has expanded its presence at the port of Baltimore, leasing space at the North Locust Point terminal to set up an independent operation.Until last week, the Mobile, Ala.-based company had operated at Dundalk Marine Terminal, where it subcontracted both space and a labor force from Universal Maritime Service Corp.The move to establish an independent operation -- under which Cooper/T. Smith is hiring longshoremen directly -- gives the port its fourth major stevedoring company.

James A. Hoyt Jr.Steamship executiveJames A. Hoyt Jr., an executive for steamship companies, died of cardiac arrest Wednesday at the North Oaks Retirement Community in Pikesville where he had been a resident since 1991. He was 81.While at Yale University, he worked summers as an intern for Grace Lines Steamship Co. in New York. After earning his degree in 1936, he became a management trainee for Grace and eventually became senior vice president for operations and a member of the board of directors.

In an unprecedented move that ultimately could create havoc at the rebounding port of Baltimore, the state is threatening to evict the port's largest stevedoring company.The dispute between the Maryland Port Administration -- the agency that oversees operation of the state-owned terminals -- and Ceres Terminals Inc. centers on nearly $1 million in payments thatCeres allegedly owes the state in connection with its operation at Dundalk Marine Terminal.In an April 7 letter, the MPA demanded the money within 10 days and threatened to take all actions, including eviction, to remedy the situation.

William Augustine McAuliffe Jr., a former shipping executive who later operated a cab company on the Eastern Shore, died of cancer Wednesday at Chester River Hospital Center. The Chestertown resident was 90. Mr. McAuliffe was born and raised in New York City. In 1938, he graduated from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. Before World War II, he worked for Lloyd's of London and R&K Steamship Lines. He enlisted in the Navy on Dec. 7, 1941, the day Pearl Harbor was attacked, and served throughout the war, attaining the rank of lieutenant commander.

One on One is a weekly feature offering excerpts of interviews conducted by The Evening Sun with newsworthy business leaders. Maurice Byan was appointed interim president of the Steamship Trade Association last August and recently was appointed president.Q. Can you briefly explain what the Steamship Trade Association is and how it began?A. It's an association of maritime-related businesses or businesses that do maritime work, not necessarily just employers of ILA (International Longshoreman's Association)

The Army's distribution center on the banks of the Susquehanna River just south of Harrisburg is piled high with the goods of war: tank treads and sprockets stacked on pallets; wooden crates bound with steel straps, the boxes marked "multiple launch rocket system"; rotor blade covers for Apache and Blackhawk helicopters; metal cases containing turbines; even stacks of olive green burlap for sandbags.This huge warehouse at the New Cumberland Army Depot has been straining in recent weeks to keep the supplies moving to troops in Persian Gulf.