OPINION: What future for Smartship Australia?
BENEATH the everyday activity of Australia’s ports, pilotage and deck-officer community, one question is increasingly being asked: what is happening at Smartship Australia? That...
Northern Sea Route: Shortcut to resilient shipping or just another geopolitical risk?
THE NORTHERN Sea Route (NSR) was mainly a geographic curiosity for international shipping for many years. Today, the NSR is attracting attention from shipowners, cargo interests...
INSIGHT: Cape Falcon grounded and what your business can learn from it
WEEKENDS and holidays are notorious bad luck charms for maritime incidents to occur (especially four day weekends). The consequence of a 24/7 industry is it doesn't neatly happen...
OPINION: Cape Falcon grounding - Why doesn't Australia have its own OPA 90 style regime?
FOUR days into the Cape Falcon grounding, the owner is engaging salvors, who can then begin the work needed to shape a recovery plan: side scan for bottom profile, drafts/list, to...
INSIGHT: Government legislation attacks illicit tobacco
THOSE in the supply chain are subject to extensive legislative and other regulatory controls. There is debate on the ways in which those controls are imposed and varied,...
The supply chain factors behind fuel tankers' extended offshore anchorage
THE SIGHT of fuel tankers sitting offshore for extended periods can look unusual from outside the industry, particularly when the vessels may be accruing significant costs while...
Ten years on: What Hanjin taught the industry about crisis
TEN years ago, I was working carrier-side in Melbourne when the reports started coming in. Ships holding position outside ports rather than coming in. Not because of weather, not...
The Tampa, 25 years on: A master's duty, a nation's response
ON 26 August 2001, the Norwegian container ship MV Tampa altered course in the Indian Ocean to answer a distress call from the Australian Rescue Coordination Centre. Its master,...
OPINION: From risk to root cause - a smarter approach to driver safety
THE SAFETY of drivers and other road users remains a major concern for fleet managers, with human error estimated to contribute to as many as 90% of road traffic collisions in...
OPINION: The safety paradox of decarbonisation - new fuels, new risks
AS SHIPPING accelerates its transition towards lower and zero greenhouse gas fuels, the industry is entering one of the most significant periods of operational change in its...
OPINION: Global piracy figures are cause for concern
THE LATEST global piracy figures should concern Australia and Papua New Guinea not simply because they represent a threat to international shipping, but because behind every...
Smuggling, ‘piggybacking’ and a history of government intervention in the supply chain
THERE is a long history of government intervention in the international supply chain undertaken for a variety of reasons, whether related to the conduct of war, recovery of...
OPINION: The border is not the problem. The gap behind it is.
THERE is a moment in every trade digitalisation working group that I have come to recognise. Someone presents a framework. Someone else presents a system. A third person presents...
Trade security: The tech disconnect threatening Australian ports
IF YOU'VE ever been involved in importation, you know the Australian border runs on paperwork. But this week the Australian Border Force (ABF) dropped a bombshell in announcing...
OPINION: Is the Northern Sea Route the new black?
LATELY, the Northern Sea Route (NSR) has seen increased interest due to the ongoing trouble in West Asia and the war between Ukraine and Russia. So, what are the pros and cons?...
