French firm CMA CGM, the world's third-largest container shipping operator, signed a significant cooperation agreement Thursday with Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL).

CargoSmart Limited, a provider of global shipment-management software, has added features to Big Schedules, its sailing-schedule search engine.

CMA CGM has made an all-cash offer to acquire Singapore's Neptune Orient Lines (NOL).

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach handled 39 percent of U.S. container imports in 2002, but that figure fell to 32 percent by 2013, according to U.S. census data. They have lost business to competitors at a time when, overall, global trade is booming and imports are rising at all ports, including L.A. and Long Beach. And the ports are losing out to others that can handle larger vessels.