The Strategist – Page 8
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Port labour must change with the times
Lean times usually always teach us something and in Spain it can be seen that dock labour is beginning to get to grips with the reality that healthy pay rises and as much overtime as you can have are a thing of the past.
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Opinion Piece
London black cab drivers see life close up and are renowned for having a forthright view on world events, so it came as no surprise then to be told recently by a cabbie, "confidence mate that is what is needed, confidence".
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Strategist Column
Here we are seemingly with the natural order of things collapsing around us. Trade is on the slide, contracts are being broken, freight rates are heading south, ships are being mothballed, terminal operators are walking away from concessions and the number of company failures is accelerating. Doom and gloom! Or ...
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Cooking up a storm in Lebanon
Some interesting plans are brewing in Beirut. Informed sources indicate that the Beirut port management is planning a port extension which will incorporate a new container terminal facility developed specifically for use by CMA CGM and the Mediterranean Shipping Company, a dedicated facility.
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The idiot's guide to recession riding
Are you bombproof? Can you weather these times of economic and financial turbulence? A few suggestions that might help and if some are a little tongue in cheek then the times dictate the need for humour too! So here''s what to have in your recession survival kit:
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THE STRATEGIST
What is it they say, you have no friends in business? Well it seems that Maersk Line, the world''s leading container line in terms of slot capacity, is set to prove this old adage.
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NewsPS Opinion piece to go in news from Mike
It is interesting to note that the privatisation of the Port of Izmir, Turkey has been temporarily suspended after a legal challenge by a union that it is contrary to the public interest. The thought springs to mind as to why government hadn''t got this aspect covered before the launch ...
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Time to take stock
Only relatively few ports and terminal operating groups have looked to a stock market listing as a way of raising cash to expand, but why? Invariably those that do take this route receive a fair amount of media attention and so perhaps it seems that there are more takers than ...
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NewsMM's opinion piece
It is interesting to see that the Indian Government has decided to deploy a new tariff specification method for concessions offered in India's major ports.
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The end of an era for cavalier port purchases
The last two or three years have seen burgeoning interest in investing in new port infrastructure and as part of this a new generation of investors have emerged, including parties such as private equity concerns and infrastructure funds.
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UK ports need realism, not optimism
The UK Government delivered its port policy interim review document in mid- July and this raises a number of interesting issues. One in particular appears worthy of comment. The point is made that the UK ports sector is thriving and profitable. Following on from this, structural changes in port financing ...
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NewsDoes size really matter in the terminal operating game?
Interesting times in the US, sparked originally by DP World’ s forced sale of its US assets, the former P& O Ports US portfolio.
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NewsThe environmental issue: hot topic or here to stay?
It used to be that we were inundated with newsworthy reports on security issues and the various programmes and schemes with interesting acronyms such as TWIC and CTPAT. The lesson there was that they all have a cost associated with them. Today, the port industry is embroiled in environmental issues, ...
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Re-writing the concessioning small print
It has become increasingly clear in the last two or three years that there is a growing requirement to consider in greater detail the aspect of exit arrangements from a terminal concession or a similar contract that gives management and operating rights to a specific party for a given port ...
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Troubles and tussles on Spain's Mediterranean coast
There are problems at the new Prat Dock container terminal under construction in Barcelona where Hutchison has secured terminal operating rights. Around 500m of the new quay line, that will eventually extend for 1,500m, has suffered a major structural problem putting into doubt the ability of the port authority to ...
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Crippling implications of US initiative
One of the more interesting announcements at the beginning of 2007 is that the opposition party in the US, the Democrats, are to fast track legislation which within three years aims to ban containers from entering the US unless they are scanned at source by US-installed equipment and fitted with ...
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NewsSpanish labour bottleneck needs urgent attention
Labour has traditionally been a problem along the Spanish Mediterranean coastline and recent times have seen things getting worse.
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Buenos Aires - back to the bad ol' days
Some people just won''t learn. Today, Buenos Aires stands on the edge of the concessioning precipice once again, having experienced problems with the concessioning of container terminals back in the 1990s.
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Breaking box barriers
A new chapter in container operations has opened with the launch of the Emma Maersk, the first of a new series of vessels from Maersk with a nominal capacity of 11,000 teu but which is believed in industry circles to be closer to 13,000 teu or above.
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No way to do business
It hits you right in the eye and begs that question - again - how can they do it?
