Insight and Opinion – Page 35
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NewsEnd of the world is nigh
The world did not end on December 21st as the believers in the Mayan calendar believed that it would. So, now the focus should be on economic development and the expectation that growth is inevitable. Consumption is always on an upward path barring a few hiccups aptly named recessions.
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NewsLocking in funds Africa-style
In August 2012 the Kenyan government opened a tender for the design and construction of the first three berths at the new port of Lamu, to be financed by the annual sale of 13bn shillings ($154.4m) of infrastructure bonds over five years.
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NewsCall for common sense
For a country that wishes to attract investors from a market sector that in practical terms has only a limited number of players with the resource and will to undertake major container terminal developments some might say that India’s approach to delivering efficient and timely concessions needs a major overhaul.
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NewsMake preparations that count
Shortly after an early July, 2012 ceremony marking the change in command, the newly anointed Captain of the Port in New York, Gordon Loebl, suggested to his team that preparedness plans for hurricanes should be cleaned up, just in case.
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NewsAusterity's long reach
Travelling through Asia makes one realise how small the world really is. The economic crisis in Europe and the slow recovery in the US are impacting the Asian economies to an extent that the Great Recession did not manage to do.
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NewsBest laid plans
Have long-winded and overly bureaucratic planning processes taken another victim in the maturing UK port industry? Fears are that a setback in Hutchison Port Holdings’ already lengthy Bathside Bay plans might send the international operator packing.
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NewsShipping lines need greater discipline
Give a big hand to the Boston Consulting group which has recently published a report that fairly and squarely lays many of the container shipping industry’s woes at its own door.
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NewsElection fever takes hold
As this article is being submitted, the US is in the thick of the election cycle; by the time it appears, the early November election will have been decided. Instead of listening to pundits and debates, shopping and holiday partying will begin in earnest.
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NewsThe right time to invest
The market is full of news reports of investments and potential investments being made by terminal operators, ship owners and operators. Can this be true when we are in an environment of declining growth in Europe, slowing economic activity in Asia and flat lining in the US?
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NewsFailing to succeed
Have you ever been responsible for any noteworthy failures in your business career? No, me neither, but apparently it happens.
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NewsPressing the button on remote control
As Navis’ Bill Walsh proudly proclaimed at Navis World last month, we are at automation two point zero. Announcements for Europe''s first automated STS crane orders certainly back him up, but how long has it taken us to get here?
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NewsMediterranean musings
Determining prospects for Mediterranean container demand and capacity can be a sticky business. Covering cultures as diverse as the Black Sea and North Africa, and Greece and Turkey, it can be a challenge to join the container capacity dots.
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NewsPrivate sector finally welcome in Africa
The acceptance of private sector participation in ports in Africa is gaining traction, and not before time. At least that''s what a meeting of port minds in Nigeria would have us believe.
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Learning east coast lessons
The September ''event season'' included back-to-back appearances by executives from the City of New York’s Economic Development Corporation, one aboard “Pier 66”- an old cross-harbour railcar barge converted into a floating restaurant in Chelsea - and the other at the appropriately named Captain’s Ketch, downtown near Wall Street.
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NewsTracking trials
There is much fodder for this month’s viewpoint, with strikes hanging over the usually labour-stable US East coast and DP World’s departure from its Aden ambitions.
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NewsEurope is not alone in its economic despair
Reading the economic press brings no joy; it makes for depressing reading. I am struggling to find signs of growth or optimism as they are both few and far between. It used to be so much simpler.
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NewsDPW's Aden arrangement ends in divorce
So the marriage is over – DP World is exiting its container operations in the Yemen seemingly by agreement with the new post-revolutionary government, receiving $27m for its 50% stake in the Yemen container terminal.
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NewsThe bigger picture is important
“We can avoid reality but we cannot avoid the consequences of reality.” A famous saying that has more than a little relevance for any company that is approaching an investment in new port capacity without taking the step of independently validating the demand for such capacity via a comprehensive market ...
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NewsShoot first, aim later
Vessels presently described as post-panamax will be the new panamax class three years from now when the works are finished in Panama.
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NewsGetting hit from both sides
US east coast ports faced two very different threats this month: one the fault of Mother Nature and the other entirely manmade as Hurricane Isaac and longshoremen unions both knocked on port doors.
