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Port reform and the art of privatisation
02 Apr 2008
At a recent maritime and logistics conference in Israel, (Port2Port) the Israeli ports of Haifa and Ashdod were heavily represented, as was the Port of Aqaba, Jordan, and the subject of port reform and privatisation was high on the agenda.
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Weakening vitals as slowdown hits docks
09 Apr 2008
An old aphorism teaches that measuring trade flows and shipping rates are a way to take the pulse of an industrial economy. As we are reminded with daily declines in stock market indicators and decreases in employment, the patient has not been doing so well lately. In New York, for example, anecdotal evidence, bolstered by a limited sampling of hard data on box movements, suggests that container movements are down compared with similar periods a year earlier.
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Dealing with a severe case of the bends
16 Apr 2008
A particularly tricky operation at a port - we had better withhold its identity - was beginning to get a reputation as akin to a ride on the wall of death. Drivers of straddle carriers were required to negotiate a ramp and manoeuvre into a 90 degree turn. They tended to take it at such speed as to flip over the carrier, often damaging the vehicle and putting their own lives in danger.
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Mixed messages
02 Apr 2008
Maybe we can give ourselves a pat on the back? Last month our Post Script page discussed the container handling facility privatising process underway in the Greek ports of
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Labour reform: the direct route gets the vote
30 Apr 2008
It is interesting to note that the privatisation of the Port of Izmir, Turkey has been temporarily suspended after a legal challenge by a union that it is contrary to the public interest. The thought springs to mind as to why government hadn’t got this aspect covered before the launch of the privatisation process and the subsequent award of the concession to Hutchison Port Holdings and its partners EIB and Global Investment Holding.
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Cutting ties
23 Apr 2008
The time for the establishment of "independent port regulators" is, in our view, most definitely upon us. With the promise of objective rulings on port tariffs, handling charges and other key aspects of the price/service equation, port authorities that find it difficult to let go will be restrained.
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