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Port congestion is increasingly an international malaise. Mounting world trade by sea has not been met by the necessary development in port management. Instead, congestion problems are increasingly reported worldwide, with congestion surcharges and delays having a knock-on effect throughout the industry. As access points for a country's economy, ports are the agents of today's spiralling international trade. As such, effective management and the promotion of efficiency are of international concern and fundamental to capitalising on the opportunities presented by the new face of the global market. The ancillary areas of the maritime industry thus have an important role to play in enabling efficiency at the world's ports to fully satisfy their client's needs and stimulate the progress demanded.

The maritime industry has changed dramatically over recent years, in correlation with developments in global trade. China's growth as an international hub for the world's trade has of course acted as a major force for this change, and here as much as anywhere else the issue of port congestion has been a growing problem. At Shanghai, for example, gateway to a population of 450m in the Yangtze River Corridor and one of the fastest-growing production centres in China, congestion has been particularly acute. Struggling to cope with the unprecedented growth in China's manufacturing sector, the port is set to become a major bottleneck for the foreseeable future. Such blockage has a stifling effect on a country's trade and thus its economy. In India, problems at New Delhi, with severe congestion at the Port of Jawaharlal Nehru, were recently reported to be worsening and disrupting the country's flow of trade. With delays proving costly for those involved, the attractiveness of trading with a congested region is reduced. Port congestion thus has a direct bearing on a country's economy.

With the interdependent nature of international trade, indirect effects are also far-reaching. China's demands for imports of resources have sent export levels elsewhere rocketing. For example, iron ore shipments coming out of Brazil, one of the world's largest iron ore producers and exporters, have risen hugely in recent years.

This has been cited as a major factor in the congestion of the world's ports. Overcapacity in Brazil and China has had a snowball effect, affecting world trade as a whole.

Such problems are not only a result of the changes thrust upon the industry but are exacerbated by an inability to effectively manage them. The widely reported congestion problems in South Africa, for example, are commonly attributed to the inefficiencies and mismanagement prevalent at its ports. Its solution is the looming privatisation of its ports, a step which may in the long term alleviate the problem but not a solution in its own right. As congestion problems in the US and the UK indicate, problems are more deeprooted, requiring innovative solutions.

Although such problems may be excused by exceptional economic growth within a particular region, they must not be written off as anomalies. As the examples above indicate, port congestion is a global concern and one that is set to continue. Solutions are therefore required. Ultimately, these will need to come from a combination of government initiative and industry-driven change. With the latter in mind, it is useful to consider the role different sectors of the maritime industry can potentially play in alleviating the problem.

Although the maritime industry has changed dramatically over recent years, it has not developed enough. An area of commerce with a great, romantic, historical past, it seems parts of the maritime industry have been at best slow, at worst unable, to fully embrace the information age.

In the business world, better logistics through shared information has become basic corporate strategy, a means of linking the supply chain. Car manufacturers coordinate suppliers' operation for just-intime delivery to assembly lines. Retailers share sales data with manufacturers, utilising the information to optimise purchasing, production and transportation. Amazingly, despite computers and the Internet, many port operators still do not receive a precise count of inbound containers until shortly before a ship's arrival. Port inefficiency is intrinsically linked to the global congestion epidemic.

There needs to be a move away from this. As agents of today's international economy, ports must act as an effective link in the trade process, not an obstacle. Put simply, the ancillary areas of the industry must change their operational procedures and systems to best meet the needs of their clients.

One example of such progress can be found within the realms of ship agency. The last 12 months have seen a move away from local ship agency to handling global, multi-port accounts. At the forefront of this change, Inchcape Shipping Services (ISS), one of the world's leading marine service providers, acts as a useful case study. ISS has made a move beyond' General Agency', which it describes as 'reporting on a broad range of events within a single port', to what it terms 'Voyage Management' or the managing of key operational, financial and market information throughout the duration of a voyage.

This moves the role of the ship agent from the confines of the single port and allows a client to plan a voyage or trade on a global scale rather than locally.

This development has been made possible by recent advances in communication and information technology. ISS has recently released the industry's first ever web-based Voyage Management service, an interactive management tool which communicates all key operational, financial and market information on one screen, in real time, not only within a port but throughout a voyage. This then allows clients to manage their affairs globally. Shipowners can benefit from unprecedented transparency of accounts with their chosen ship agent and cost-savings due to improved efficiency.

10 MINUTES SAVED ON EVERY PORT CALL The Voyage Management system was developed in response to a request by Maersk Tankers for ISS to find a solution that would effectively save them 10 minutes on every port call, saving them millions of pounds globally through increased efficiency. Commercially, the move is already proving its success for ISS. It is a major factor behind the recently announced global contract with ExxonMobil, which, comprising 10,000 port calls worldwide per annum, is the largest such deal the sector has ever seen.

Importantly, however, the benefits of Voyage Management extend beyond the commercial considerations of ISS and its clients and are essential to the wider issue discussed here. The logical side effect of a reduction of time in port is an increase in port operating efficiency.

By allowing ship owners to plan their voyage globally rather than on a port-to-port basis, a much-needed boost of efficiency is injected into maritime industry.

Such industry-driven progress is a welcome aid to the global epidemic of port congestion. Every continent has its own horror story to tell. Related problems in the US have been seen to further escalate this year. A strike at the port of Savannah early in 2003 brought the major seaport to a standstill. The non-union harbour truckers' strike occurred in direct response to the congestion problems widespread in US ports, a consequence largely of imported consumer goods from Asia. With ships having to queue in port, lengthy truck lines result, a political target for environmentalists. Some of the US' congestion problems are unavoidable in the short-term. However, importantly, many could have been alleviated.

With changes in global trade set to continue its growth, the current influx at US ports, as at others, is unlikely to abate. Ongoing reports from across the globe highlight a continued strain on the world's ports. The maritime industry must meet the increased demands set by today's global economy, fully embracing the opportunities presented by advancements in communications and information technology. Only then will the ancillary areas of the industry fully satisfy their client's needs and the industry fulfil its role as an effective agent of the world's trade.

This article was contributed by Rodney Lunn, group sales director of Inchcape Shipping Services.