Insight and Opinion – Page 34
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NewsIn ascendancy
Tanzania has laid down its claim for a future large slice of regional trade through a deal with China to build the new port of Bagamoyo in its Mbegani area, north west of Dar es Salaam, at a total cost of $10bn.
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Waterfront issues top the political agenda
In New York, last year’s Hurricane Sandy has been a game-changer in many ways: a recent panel featuring candidates in the upcoming Mayoral race showed that waterfront issues have moved to the top tier of issues facing the candidates.
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NewsEconomic realities continue to bite
The concept of active government support during economic downturns (Keynesian economics) versus Milton Friedman’s Chicago School favouring monetarism - whereby government did not expand money supply nor support easy credit and tax and spend policies - remain at loggerheads.
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NewsA three speed world
The global economy has entered an interesting phase of development where there are no locomotives pulling the rest of the world into prosperity and where we have a mixed bag of economic development not supporting common expansion.
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NewsSecond helpings on terminal concessions
Name a port that won’t eventually go for a second container terminal operator. You might think Port of Singapore but you would be wrong: included within PSA''s operating arrangements are certain dedicated container terminals for shipping lines.
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NewsCurtain call for Hong Kong drama
There is a coups de théâtre being played out in Hong Kong. Hutchison’s Hongkong International Terminal has been an unwilling extra in a performance put on by its contracted dockers, who are now in their fifth week of strikes.
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NewsLook out for tariff landmines
Which way to jump – discount or no discount on port tariffs? The question is not as straightforward as it might seem.
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NewsPain of austerity gets personal
The global economy is trying to recover from the Great Recession with varying medicines being applied. The United States, sequestration aside, continues with an expansionary policy supported by the Federal Reserve. Japan’s new Prime Minister, Abe is going all out for government-led expansion and many of the Asian countries are ...
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Wising up to Dockwise's real worth
Boskalis, the world’s largest dredging and marine services company, has secured its objective of acquiring Dockwise which operates the world’s largest heavy lift ships.
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Playing concessioning soccer in Africa
The political ''football'' of privatised port operations in Mombasa is being kicked around again.
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NewsThe shipping industry CMA reboot
This spring’s Connecticut Maritime Association conference, one of the mainstays of the New York event circuit, suffered from having too many good speeches/sessions happening simultaneously - a happy problem, I guess, for the organisers.
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NewsShrinking pool of port talent
Successive years of hammering home the crewing ‘crisis’ message have firmly ingrained the matter on our minds: red alert, a dearth of qualified seafarers is about to bring the industry to its knees. However, that record has been re-played for at least the last two decades and the anticipated crisis ...
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NewsPutting ports centre stage
Over the past few years, the New York/New Jersey Working Harbor Committee, a diverse group of local stakeholders, has come together in a big way.
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NewsTariff war stirs up European tension
The economics of austerity are impacting the ports and terminals of Europe. Cargo volumes are declining, both in the container and bulk trades. As with the rest of the shipping industry, we are seeing increased price competition as capacity goes up.
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NewsSurvival of the fittest
It’s started. It was inevitable that the longer this financial blip continued the more chance there was of seeing business buyouts in the ports sector. And we can thank equipment companies for the start of what may well be a domino effect for the rest of the industry.
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NewsMombasa musings
Late last year saw President Kibaki preside over the ground breaking ceremony for the Port of Mombasa’s second container terminal. While the event marked progress, it is very slow progress indeed.
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NewsAim for evolution not revolution
Re-engineering the role of a terminal after the departure of its principal client is no easy job. All the more so, when the terminal competed in a niche context in the competitive arena of Mediterranean container transhipment operations.
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NewsTunnel vision for another year
We’ve welcomed in a new year, but as an industry we are facing the same set of problems; even a seasoned optimist like me is struggling to see any positives any time soon.
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NewsThe need to look ahead
New York is all about labour actions, or so it has seemed at the beginning of 2013. At the start of the year, a possible school bus driver strike garnered more attention than the lurking dockworker strike, but by mid January - with the third “deadline” approaching - negotiations between ...
