It’s no mystery that nationwide the port business is down. The global economy has taken one to the solar plexus, and everyone is feeling the hurt. Still, while some numbers are off, Massport, the quasi-state agency that administers the public terminals in the Port of Boston, has already begun laying the groundwork for the post-recession economy.By George Lauriat, AJOTThe Port of Boston has often been described as a big fish in a small pond: the New England market. In effect, it is a small fish, in a small but highly lucrative pond, with three large predators lurking on each side: the Ports of New York/New Jersey to the south, the Port of Halifax to the northeast and the Port of Montreal to the north. Despite the obvious overlap in port markets, the Port of Boston has done a remarkable job not only holding its own, but increasing market share. Several years ago the Port of Boston cracked the 200,000-TEU barrier. In fairness to other mega-ports like New York/New Jersey, Ports of Virginia or Savannah, 200,000 TEU makes for a nice terminal, but this mark was a significant milestone to this local community. Simply put, the Port is really competing for ships and cargo. A message that wasn’t always clear in years past, when a pitched battle was being wage over future land usage between condos or containers. UP IN A DOWN MARKET The Port of Boston, handled 208,624 TEU in 2008, compared with 220,339 TEU in 2007. Massport’s Maritime Director, Mike Leone in an interview with the AJOT, said, “I’m not unhappy with the results [2008 numbers], but I’m a little disappointed with barge and feedership numbers but direct call numbers were actually up.” Direct call numbers were 188,915 TEUs in 2008, compared to 180,194 in 2007, in a down market. The main difference between years is the feedership and barge service numbers were way off in 2008. In many cases, either truck services or rail, supplanted the barge or feedership services (albeit the Eimskip feedership stopped rotation for reasons outside of pure volume). The container barge service, one of the longest serving of its kind. It connects the Port to the port of New York and New Jersey. The Port has also had at various times a feedership connection with the Port of Halifax/Nova Scotia, often with calls in Portsmouth New Hampshire and Portland Maine. Direct calls have been the cornerstone of the Port’s success. Currently, the Port is served via direct call by Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) Europe and Mediterranean services and Cosco, Hanjin, K-Line, Yang Ming (CHKY) slot-sharing Asian service. Last year CMA CGM also had a service to north Europe for part of the year, before being suspended as boxship rotations worldwide were shortened. But in reference to CMA CGM, Leone noted that the French carrier is coming back to the Port. “CMA CGM is returning to Boston with its new Black Pearl Service rotation, which connects Boston to the carriers’ main Caribbean trans-shipment hub in Kingston, Jamaica.” According to CMA CGM, the fortnightly Black Pearl Service will deploy a 1,100 TEU vessel on a 14-day port rotation of New York-Boston-Halifax-Kingston. For New England’s shippers, it offers a direct call to Latin American markets, which not only have grown in recent years but also are showing economic resilience in these tough times. The service is primarily set up to handle perishable, temperature-sensitive and out-of-gauge cargo shipments. Leone added that the Port is still looking to add direct call carrier services from Asia (via Suez or Panama), North Europe or West Africa. Beyond the services mentioned above, a return of a feedership service to Halifax-Portland-Boston-New York/New Jersey and a possible direct Boston-Nova Scotia high speed catamaran service have all been mentioned by various parties. One of the reasons that the Port has been able to hold its own both attracting new carrier services and in turn cargo, is the upgrades to facilities. Conley Terminal’s efficiency improved in part from nearly a $30 millio