As the recent Coastlink annual conference drew to a close, one speaker voiced exasperation with the progress being made towards finding shortsea solutions. He challenged Coastlink to “make things happen” by bringing together a select number of shippers, ports and transport services into one room to develop new strategies that could be presented to delegates at the next conference, in the spring. Coastlink has taken up the challenge, says chairman David Cheslin, but recognises that one of the biggest difficulties here is the regulatory authorities’ attitude to such collaboration.
“We will need to find a way of bringing the right people into one room without contravening existing anti-competition law,” he says. “It’s not just a matter of enabling service providers to convene together; we know that many large shippers, be they manufacturers or retailers, are wary of discussing their shipping requirements in the presence of their competitors, for fear of reprisals from the competition authorities.”
In discussions at the conference about using shortsea shipping more regularly for project cargo and over-sized loads, a representative from one manufacturer of dumper trucks, excavators and other kit stated that his management and lawyers would never allow him to sit down with a potential competitor to discuss collaborating with shortsea shipping – for fear of the competition authorities. But a delegate from another original equipment manufacturer said he would face no such problems.
“The view from a major shortsea operator was that we really need to collaborate and get several shippers talking together to create critical volume, without which you cannot start a shortsea service,” says Mr Cheslin. “You do need sufficient support to make a service viable.
“But as Coastlink, we wonder how far we can go. For example, imagine the potential problems if all the supermarket groups got together and asked a rail provider to run a train between Land’s End and John O’Groats, and discussed the rates they were prepared to pay for this. There would certainly be concern from the competition authorities.”
Any Coastlink exercise to bring parties together would require the cooperation of the relevant European Union departments “if we are deliver what governments say they want, namely more sustainable forms of transport”, says Mr Cheslin. “Brussels will have to be our first port of call.”
The conference agreed that greater collaboration involving all parties was desirable in the cause of encouraging shortsea solutions. If shippers wanted frequency, reliability and low cost, they should be prepared to sit in the same room as other shippers, including their competitors, to identify how volumes can be concentrated on to specific routes, enabling frequent sailings to be provided on a commercial basis.
Vincent van den Bosch, senior partner for the funding and grants specialist PNO Consultants in Rotterdam, has been involved in applications for funding under Marco Polo and its predecessor, PACT (Pilot Actions Combined Transport) for over 15 years.
He agrees that partnership is vital in building shortsea volumes.
“For ports, factors for success in attracting shortsea business include fast loading/discharging, fast moving through the terminal – i.e. no time lost between adjacent transport and sailing of the vessel – quick customs procedures outside the EU (for example Russian ports and hinterland transport from the Baltic States into Russia), security, tracking & tracing and uncongested access. All of these could still be improved.
“The way to achieve this should be real co-partnership between ports authorities, terminals and shipping companies. What is needed is the will to create made-to-measure solutions. Too often, in the hope of attracting a big shipping company, a port invests in some expensive cranes – and is then left wondering why nobody is coming.”