Problems at the interface
Time：2014-11-06
Browse：156
The fact is, of course, that theory and practice are sometimes divergent and ports, not unlike shops or even hospitals, are not sufficiently flexible to cope with sudden increases in demand for their services. Like other organisations, they tend not to have reserve capacity in either labour or plant that will enable them to smoothly accommodate more ships, or ships with more cargo to handle.
Ports that have adjusted their capacity to cope with the rapid downturn of the last recession and the slow climb back to prosperity have not had the flexibility to cope with a sudden increase in the numbers of containers that require to be handled. And when command economies like China suddenly press the industrial accelerator, the ports shipping out the coal and iron ore they have ordered cannot simply lay on an additional ship loader, or take on the necessary labour overnight.
So we have crowded anchorages and ports in Southern California with laden container ships waiting in the offing, with a great deal of angry rhetoric. In Europe, there seems to be rather more capacity available, with ships unable to dock in the scheduled terminal seemingly able to shift to new terminals with the available capacity. It has largely been a matter of investment priorities.
We have also seen ships being “scaled up” and this is not entirely without its troubles, demanding additional cranes for the bigger ships, or if these are not available, having to put up with slower times in ports. Bigger container exchanges from these bigger ships puts pressure on terminals used to the regular flow of smaller ships, which they hope will not spend too long on the terminal apron before someone takes it away. It is a matter of adjustment. A very long ship, it is worth noting, sometimes shuts out the best part of the adjacent berth, causing problems for the terminal. The port suddenly cannot build on an additional length of quay!
It is also worth noting that post 2008 and the knock this gave to industrial confidence, there is rather more caution being exhibited in the port and terminal sector about major capital investment that always involves something of an act of faith. So while the economy might be showing signs of recovery, its tentative nature, along with no shortage of “known unknowns” about the strength of the demand and its probable duration, do not encourage the sort of facilities construction ship operators would rather like to see. Eventually, the ports and terminals will cope. But it will take time!