OPINION: Ports, ships and the path to a cleaner future
WE HAVE recently seen several Australian ports celebrating achieving a perfect score in the GRESB Infrastructure Assessment. But what does this all mean? The GRESB is an...
Northern Sea Route - a viable shorter passage or disaster in the making?
DUE to the warming of the Arctic and subsequent thinner ice layers and a lengthened summer season, the Northern Sea Route (NSR) has become navigable for longer periods. Is this a...
OPINION: Annual Ports League table shows some winners and some losers
THE LATEST release of the World Bank Ports Performance table will no doubt elicit derision about the performance of Australian ports from the usual suspects, but is it all that...
OPINION: Shipping lines and logistics operators are expanding their business models
THE AUSTRALIAN Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) recently concluded that DP World Australia’s takeover of Silk Contract Logistics will not result in a substantial lessening...
OPINION: Proposed US port fees expected to cause chaos
RECENT announcements by the Trump administration have struck fear into the shipping and global supply chain world. Most have been about tariffs, which at the time of writing this...
OPINION: Global ports sale to have far-reaching consequences
SCAREMONGERING by US President Trump about perceived Chinese influence over the entrance to the Panama Canal has resulted in some unintended consequences. Hutchison Port Holdings...
OPINION: ACCC stevedore monitoring report and a word on charges
OVER the holiday break, I had a chance to digest the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Container stevedoring monitoring report 2023-24, released toward the end...
OPINION: Fatality statistics paint a grim picture
ICHCA International has recently conducted wide-ranging research on worldwide cargo-related workplace fatalities covering the period 2000 to the present day. We aim to learn from...
IN DETAIL: Chasing shadows
ARE “dark fleet” ships painted black, or do they turn their lights off at night? It doesn’t work quite like that, but they certainly go to a lot of trouble to sail undetected. The...
Restoration milestone for tall ship Alma Doepel
LAST week a major milestone in the restoration efforts of three-masted wooden topsail schooner Alma Doepel was reached by installing the lower steel masts. More wooden extension...
OPINION: Latest port performance rankings no joy for Australian ports
THE LATEST Container Port Performance Index (CPPI) for calendar year 2023, which is developed by the World Bank and S&P Global Market intelligence, was published last week. The...
OPINION: Port privatisation in NSW has become a political football
A RECENT revelation in the NSW Parliament has again ignited debate about the privatisation of Australian capital city ports. When Port Botany and Port Kembla were privatised in...
OPINION: Are sail-assisted ships an option or just a lot of hot air?
SAILING ships have, for centuries, facilitated trade and allowed explorers to conquer new continents. With the drive to minimise GHG emissions from ships there is renewed interest...
OPINION: Strategic Fleet or Tragic Fleet?
THE OLD chestnut of Australian flagged and operated vessels has reared its head again with the recent release of the Strategic Fleet Taskforce Report. The fleet The issue of ships...
OPINION: Climate change is starting to impact shipping routes
PROLONGED drought in several parts of the world is threatening established shipping routes. The Panama Canal Authority recently lowered the number of ships that can transit the...
