The Port of Portland rolled out the red carpet for a very special arrival – a containership, something not seen on these shores since early April.

ICTSI Oregon, which operates the container terminal at the Port of Portland and is a subsidiary of Manila-headquartered International Container Terminal Services (Inc), welcomed a ship from Westwood Shipping.

Earlier this year, the US west coast port lost 95% of its box business when Germany's Hapag-Lloyd and South Korea's Hanjin Shipping pulled out due to a protracted labour dispute at the port.

Only Westwood is left at the container terminal, a small operator with just a handful of services.

The port sits on the confluence of two major rivers, the Columbia and the Willamette.