SHIPPING lines that bring additional containers to the US Port of Los Angeles will be rewarded under a first-of-its-kind incentive programme being launched by the Los Angeles Board of Harbour Commissioners in 2014.

Under the programme, a carrier will be paid US$5 per TEU for each additional container it ships through the port in 2014 over its volumes this year. If a carrier's container volume grows by 100,000 TEU or more compared to the previous 12-month period it will receive $15 per TEU for every extra container.

The payments will be awarded in a lump-sum form in early 2015, reported Washington-based DC Velocity. Port staff will monitor the programme each month to assess its effectiveness and to determine if it should be extended beyond the first year.

The plan is to counteract adverse shipping patterns such as the greater deployment of mega-ships, which will call on fewer ports per voyage and the opening of the expanded Panama Canal that may divert cargo from Los Angeles.

"Carriers are rethinking their routes and relationships to be as competitive as possible," said the departing port executive director, Geraldine Knatz, in a statement. "This incentive gives them another reason to strengthen their ties with the Port of Los Angeles."