Subscribe to RSS feedOpinion: Port Botany's tidal shift or temporary glitch?
Are we witnessing an historic tidal change at Port Botany? Long accused of prioritising the waterside operations of their Sydney terminals at the expense of landside efficiencies, both DP World and Patrick were battling to keep ships on schedule last week.
A delicate balance: Resourcing at Port Botany a matter of interpretation (Photo: Sydney Ports)
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Editor's Blog
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It is a situation that some shipping lines fear has developed as a byproduct of the New South Wales Government's landside policies.
Whether the lines are right appears to be a matter of interpretation.
Several ships were last week waiting for twice as long as they typically would, either at the berth or offshore.
Amazingly however, the congestion doesn't appear to have affected landside operations at either DP World or Patrick.
In fact, Patrick was still reporting 28 minute receival and delivery turnarounds last week despite other disruptions, including the unavailability of staff who were attending the funeral of a colleague.
At DP World, some of the ocean-side delays could be a product of its temporary restrictions on berths as part of work to commission the pair of post-panamax cranes that arrived two months ago.
The stevedore is also battling an increase in volumes stemming from its new-found majority share of the Sydney market.
As shipping lines braced for the possibility their vessels might miss windows at other ports, they have also quietly suggested that last week's situation could repeat itself.
In times of congestion, and without a regulatory stick hanging over their heads, the stevedores have long diverted resources to where they felt the most financial pain if they did not deliver.
Now the situation has changed.
Lines suggest the resources are being thrown back towards the landside operations at a time when both stevedores are eager to show the state government and Sydney Ports Corporation just how serious they are about voluntary performance improvement.
The horse may have already bolted.
Will NSW Government changes to Port Botany have long-term benefits for port efficiency? Should stevedores have to comply with the new regulated approach to landside performance if their operations are now performing well? Leave your comments below or email us at editorial@lldcn.com.au
Tidal Shift at Port Botany
To that end, the CBFCA welcomes the bold steps being taken by the NSW Government to provide fairness and equity into landside arrangements at the port, sharing the Government’s view that the PBLIS reforms will provide the necessary measures to help meet the challenges of projected activity at the port. Container trade at Port Botany reached a record high of 149,000 containers in March 2010. From July last year to March this year, it grew 4.8 per cent, compared to the corresponding period last year.
The CBFCA believe these performance standards, and associated penalties between stevedores and transport carriers, will greatly assist in easing landside congestion at Port Botany. Shipping lines and the stevedores, in particular, must appreciate that these measures provide definitive benchmarks that must be met if we are to gain greater efficiency across the entire supply chain.
We all must work in a spirit of co-operation if we are to lift productivity and meet the challenges of ever increasing demand at Port Botany.
Paul Zalai – CBFCA Manager Freight and Business Operations