For the ultimate in outsourcing look to the Comoros Islands where the government chose to outsource the complete port management package. United Arab Emirates-based Gulftainer was invited by the government of the Comoros Islands to take over complete management of Moroni Port late last year and will assume responsibility for the Port of  Mutsamudu later this year.

The previous management team had not been able  to improve the speed and efficiency of cargo handling. Nor were they investing in new equipment.  Consequently, the Port of Moroni had established a reputation as being a costly and unattractive facility for lines and traders.

Gulftainer commercial manager Keith Nuttall explains that when a port is faced with seemingly intractable problems, the owners have to concentrate on how best to improve efficiency and cut costs as a means of boosting import/export traffic.

Probed on the cost of bringing in outside managers, he points out that this does not necessarily have to be prohibitive; everything depends on the scale of the operation. Relatively few well trained and experienced people can make a big difference working alongside and training-up local personnel, he says. Currently, Gulftainer has deployed just four of its own people in Moroni, for example. “A key part in what we are trying to do at Moroni Port is to comprehensively retrain the majority of the existing workforce to higher standards,” says Mr Nuttall, explaining that this did not apply to senior managers, all of whom have left.

While Gulftainer’s existing operations in both Sharjah and Khor Fakkan are quite different to the type of traffic base it has been asked to manage in the Comoros Islands, Mr Nuttall says that there are some basics that translate anywhere. In Moroni, he cites the introduction of efficient, hands-on management, good communications with the workforce, training and investment in equipment.

Interestingly, Gulftainer’s remit does not involve incentives to grow the existing business; rather, the aim is simply to make the ports more efficient. Despite this, Mr Nuttall says that it could use the contacts with shipping lines it has in the UAE to help improve the overall traffic base in the Comoros.

“The Comoros Islands government is already seeing a return on its investment,” says Mr Nuttall. Since Gulftainer arrived, 24-hour working has been introduced, new equipment provided and improved working practices developed. As a result, the cost of imported foodstuffs has been dramatically reduced because of faster ship turn-arounds compared with previous years.

“Inefficient ports are costly log jams for governments and traders. Moroni is now working well and thus saves much valuable foreign exchange,” says Mr Nuttall.