The right dressing

The “name in the frame”to win the contracts is China Ocean Shipping Group (Cosco) which represents something of an interesting choice for these gateway ports. Equally, it will be interesting to see how Cosco fares as regards achieving the practical implementation of these contracts, especially in the container arena.

What makes the choice of Cosco, which has preferred bidder status, particularly interesting is that it is a shipping line taking over the management of two gateway container terminals. The Piraeus facilities fulfil the role of the main container terminal gateway for Greece, and those in Thessaloniki function as an import/export gateway for Greece while offering significant potential to serve transit cargo from neighbouring countries.

There is no doubt that Cosco is qualified in container terminal operation and management but its experience has been more in the arena of operating dedicated terminals for its own vessels and those of its consortia partners. The operation of full-blooded common user container terminals is a markedly different culture and one that many parties are now beginning to question whether a shipping line entity or even shipping lineaffiliated entity can do properly?

It is not just that the operating circumstances are markedly different but there is also the burning issue of, can an entity whose core business is liner shipping ever really offer a neutral face to other liner operators in the context of a terminal operation? Certainly, in other parts of the world where shipping line-owned entities have attempted to service the third-party market there have been concerns voiced about practical aspects such as the accumulation by the terminal operator of what amounts to sensitive competitive data. Also, there are issues such as the terminal operator giving too much preference to the vessels operated by its group and conversely shuffling those of its mainstream competitors down the pack. Some see these issues as impossible to resolve and as such likely to present ongoing problems. Acquired taste

And what makes this all the more interesting in a Greek context is that the authorities there have approached the task of introducing private sector expertise into overall container terminal management without first tackling the often thorny task of reforming the labour sector. Labour in Piraeus in particular is known to be quite militant and as such there is a big question mark over how receptive it will be to any new ways of working etc that Cosco wants to introduce.

Similarly,there are a lot of agency and other interests that are presently able to influence container terminal operations in Piraeus and while OOCL may have been given a mandate to bring about changes by government it again remains to be seen how successful it will be with little practical assistance forthcoming.