Virginia to cut 20% of staff

The US east coast port of Virginia has announced a 20% cut in its container handling workforce after 18 months of declining volumes.
Operator Virginia International Terminals (VIT) said both cargo volumes and associated revenue in the year ending 30 June were down by nearly 25%.
Already 90 of its 452-strong workforce have been made redundant.
VIT CEO Joe Dorto said: “Unfortunately, the sustained recession in global markets has overtaken VIT and we are no longer able to financially support our current operating model.
“This is the most difficult day in my 40 year career.”
In 2008 Virginia handled just over 2m teu, down 2.1% on 2007, according to Cargo Systems’ Top 100 Container Ports with a 15% market share on the east coast.
From January to June this year it handled 832,052teu, compared with 1,035,975teu in the same period in 2008, a decline of nearly 20%.

http://www.ifw-net.com/freightpubs/ifw/indexarticle.htm?artid=20017683069