A series of explosions at a hazardous goods storage facility at the port of Tianjin in August triggered a giant fireball that rocked the northern port city and shone a light on some dubious port practices: hazardous chemical storage close to housing; inadequate handling and storage of those cargoes, in this case thought to be explosives; and inefficient risk assessment processes which ultimately led to the death of over 130 people at the latest count. Hundreds remained in hospital at the time of going to press.
The Chinese response has been swift and unequivocal: 12 executives, mainly from the company that owned the warehouse, have been formally detained, and 11 government and port officials have been accused of negligence, among them the head of Tianjin’s transportation commission Wu Dai, and Zheng Qingyue, president of Tianjin Port Co.
Officials continue to work to unravel the series of events that led to the Tianjin blasts and the repercussions of the investigation will likely affect port practices across the country. But no matter what the outcome there’s little chance that China’s self-manufactured bubble will burst or that its top port global rankings will be dented.
According to JOC’s recent port productivity ranking, Asian – along with Middle Eastern ports – recorded the best productivity for ships at berth by far in 2014. And Drewry in its latest global container terminal report predicts that Asia will account for more than 60% of the forecast global demand growth of 168m teu through to 2019.
Moves were also afoot before the Tianjin explosions to bring five ports south of Shanghai under one operating umbrella – proof of the high level strategic thinking in place. While the reports are as yet unconfirmed, stock trading in Ningbo – one of the five in the net – was suspended last month pending approval of the deal from the authorities. The other ports under the agreement are Zhoushan, Jiaxing, Taizhou and Wenzhou.
In any other location, an event as serious as the Tianjin explosions could have had dire consequences for the future viability of the port. International, national and even regional competition between ports means that there is always someone willing and able to take up the slack. But this is China, where top ranking ports are plentiful and cargo volumes immovable, for now at least.