Post Script

COMMENT: The five-month long industrial relations conflict in Spain’s ports has ended, but has it ended in a satisfactory way?

COMMENT: Over 10 years on from the time of the first concession attempt for the northern Greek port of Thessaloniki the port has finally been privatised, but is the result the best…

COMMENT: Spain is about to launch a second attempt to reform its stevedoring industry in order to put it on a more competitive footing and thereby achieve compliance with European Union (EU)…

COMMENT: In mid-March, Spain’s Parliament rejected voting into law the port labour reforms that are necessary to meet European Commission requirements. In effect, Spain, for the time being at least, remains out…

COMMENT: The Spanish Government has passed a draft law which aims to achieve compliance with European Union regulations governing the hiring of port labour.

COMMENT: It is no surprise that the PSA Singapore has signalled its intention to introduce ‘truck platooning’ for container transfer between its container terminals.

COMMENT: Never underestimate the power of Mother Nature. This is a reality that many seafarers fully appreciate, but not one that that is always grasped by those of us with our feet…

COMMENT: India has released details of a proposed new model concession agreement which is designed to reform its terminal bidding process and attract more private sector investment.

COMMENT: This column has mentioned before the contradiction in terms associated with port and terminal privatisations where government wants to ‘keep a finger in the pie.’

The completion of the first phase of the second container terminal in Mombasa, a new deep-water facility, is imminent. At the beginning of 2015 there were a lot of statements to the…

The next major phase of expansion of unit load traffic in the hub port of Cartagena will be at Puerto Bahia, the new dry cargo port. And the burning issue of the…

COMMENT: It was originally scheduled to be announced in July but now informed sources indicate the name of the new Mombasa container terminal operator will be announced in late September/early October.

COMMENT: Over the past twelve months the container business has been turned on its head with shifting alliances, the arrival of the mega-ships and an ordering spree with enough capacity to make…

COMMENT: Not all container transhipment takes place at the mega hubs such as Singapore, Tanjung Pelepas, Busan, Algeciras, Malta Freeport and so on. It can also take place as a healthy adjunct…

COMMENT: The Dock Workers Union, the union which represents the majority of workers at the port of Mombasa, Kenya, has stated that it now supports the idea of offering a concession to…

Dynamar’s latest intra-Mediterranean container trade report pegs 2015 volumes of full container trade at 15.6m teu, up from 14.9m teu in 2013, expecting it to grow to 17.1m teu by 2017.

COMMENT: Ghana has added its name to the growing list of ports along the West African coast which have firm plans to add new deepwater capacity.

New deeper draft vessels keep coming, as do vessels with a wider beam and length overall dictating the need for deeper channel depth and draft alongside quays as well as other requirements…

Picture this if you will: you have no experience in the container handling business but assisted by the fact that you have a strategic partner, who does know the business, you win…