Maersk boss delivers ‘wake-up call’ to ports

Unveiling the concept at TOC Europe taking place in Antwerp this week, Maersk Line’s chief executive Eivind Kolding told delegates: “There is an urgent need for change. We operate in more or less the same fashion as we did 30 years ago; our customers have been far more sophisticated developing their requirements.”

With three core drivers, the ‘Changing the way we view shipping’ project looks to tackle reliability, ease of business and environmental performance.

“Every second container arrives too late today. I couldn’t find an industry with a similar poor performance,” said Mr Kolding, adding that a third of all delays could be attributed to inefficient terminal operations. “Reliability is the new rate war; we need an end-to-end view on reliability.”

Considering the environment, Mr Kolding said that the industry needs transparency: “How can a customer today make an educated choice on who provides the more sustainable service? Transparency is really the only way to drive environmental performance.

“Container shipping is not a commodity and we should not treat it as such. We would like the entire industry to look at what creates value. Only by a joint focus will we be able to make a leap forward in the industry as we did 50 years ago. The journey might be difficult even though the destination is very clear.”

Port of Antwerp chief executive Eddy Bruyninckx added to Maersk’s call to arms, challenging ports to move from “mainport to chainport” thinking.

“There remains too much fragmentation and many links in the maritime supply chain are too insufficiently integrated,” he said.

To get involved in the project, go to http://changingthewaywethinkaboutshipping.com/.