Negatives and positives

I make no apology for returning to the starting point of my last Viewpoint – Ukraine. It is important to highlight the tragedy that has unfolded, at Putin’s behest, in the port of Mariupol. It is hard to fathom that the literal obliteration of Mariupol is taking place in the 21st Century. There is an unfolding humanitarian disaster here aptly described by Lesia Vasylenko, a member of the Ukrainian Parliament, as a horror akin to that endured by Bosnia’s Srebrenica or the city of Aleppo, Syria.

We say to the people of Mariupol and to the Ukraine as a whole our thoughts and prayers are with you – we applaud your courage.

Oleksandr Gavrylyuk, Port Strategy’s Ukraine based correspondent, provides a human perspective of life in the face of Russian aggression in ‘Fighting to Survive’. The impact has been extensive to-date and can be seen to be still escalating. Massive spikes in energy prices, the scramble for alternative sources of oil and gas, the deterioration of food security and the tap being turned off in Russian container trades are all outcomes that continue to gather pace, and which are signposts of tough economic times ahead.

And the question keeps reoccurring, why? The answer possibly lies at the bottom of the last page of this April edition of Port Strategy in the article Shortcomings Exposed. For sure, there is no rational explanation!

Its not all bad news at an industry level.

There is progress in Bangladesh regarding bringing new container capacity on-stream to alleviate the pressure on the congested port of Chittagong, although there clearly remains scope for improvement of the process by which the new container terminal at Patenga will be concessioned. It would be good to see the authorities tap into best practice and hard-earnt global experience.

Also worthy of highlighting is the work of leading ports to constructively build smart port status. The link between digitalisation and the objective of decarbonisation is growing stronger. A key aspect of this is managing truck traffic flow both to/from and within container terminals. The port of Hamburg reports ground-breaking work in this sphere with the Italian port of La Spezia also getting in on the act in ’Smart Port Pacesetters’.

Another positive is the progress being made with shoreside power – recent projects underline this in ’Innovation to the fore’. We can also see interesting steps being taken towards independent power provision for vessels at anchor – sea trials are scheduled in ‘Smart Buoys’.

But there is always room for improvement somewhere and in this respect the spotlight this month falls firmly on P&O Ferries and its parent DP World in ’DPW-P&O Ferries: what code of ethics’. Experts suggest this is a classic case of how not to ‘manage’ industrial relations.