Viewpoint – Page 7
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NewsCurtain call for Hong Kong drama
There is a coups de théâtre being played out in Hong Kong. Hutchison’s Hongkong International Terminal has been an unwilling extra in a performance put on by its contracted dockers, who are now in their fifth week of strikes.
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NewsShrinking pool of port talent
Successive years of hammering home the crewing ‘crisis’ message have firmly ingrained the matter on our minds: red alert, a dearth of qualified seafarers is about to bring the industry to its knees. However, that record has been re-played for at least the last two decades and the anticipated crisis ...
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NewsSurvival of the fittest
It’s started. It was inevitable that the longer this financial blip continued the more chance there was of seeing business buyouts in the ports sector. And we can thank equipment companies for the start of what may well be a domino effect for the rest of the industry.
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NewsTunnel vision for another year
We’ve welcomed in a new year, but as an industry we are facing the same set of problems; even a seasoned optimist like me is struggling to see any positives any time soon.
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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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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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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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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.
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News
Moving target
The tales of two recent labour struggles underline continuing fraught relations between port operators and workers in all parts of the world.
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NewsChange of tack
APM Terminals has boldly put its money where its mouth is in its commitment to North America and put in an unsolicited bid to take over operations at Virginia Port Authority’s terminals.
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NewsShaking up the status quo down-under
Melbourne finally has its sights set on the prize with Port minister Denis Napthine giving the port''s long-awaited third container terminal the official go-ahead.
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NewsGo fish and keep good staff on the hook
We are bombarded on a daily basis with spiralling unemployment figures. So dire is the job market in many countries that you would be forgiven for thinking that employees would put up with anything just to keep what they have.
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NewsNo easy win for Tauranga
The labour situation in New Zealand has gone from bad to worse: discontented port workers were about to enter their fourth month of strikes at Ports of Auckland as this issue went to press.
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NewsAt your inconvenience
The International Transport Workers’ Federation’s threat to unceremoniously brand the Ports of Auckland as its first Port of Convenience sets a worrying precedent.
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NewsLow blows for US ports
Falling volumes, bun fights for dredging works, misguided protestors disrupting operations – US ports are certainly having a tough time of it.
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NewsFull throttle
You certainly can’t accuse Virginia Port Authority of half measures. In July, it replaced all of its board members bar one in a sweeping move to kick-start growth.
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NewsThe bigger picture
US labour issues have once again stolen the headlines on the West Coast, with a timing bordering on perfection.
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NewsPiracy port breach will force fresh thinking
The scourge of modern day piracy has prompted shivers down the spine of many a hard-working ship owner. With one of the world’s key shipping arteries at the top of the Gulf of Aden, avoidance of the area is unrealistic.
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NewsWhy it's good to talk about the future
Too much talk, not enough action. It’s a charge levelled with alarming frequently at the maritime industry – usually from within and from those at least partially responsible for the constant posturing.
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NewsWhere's the trust?
Ports should be watching the latest round of European anti-trust raids with interest.
