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Making your voice heard
Monday 8 March 2010
BRITAIN’S maritime industry is not the only one that has a hard time being heard at government level, with trade associations finally coming together last year in order to present a united front in the hope of regaining the ear of politicians.
US west coast terminal operators and the railroads that serve the ports face exactly the same problems in trying to get their message across in Washington at a time when they face arguably their biggest-ever challenge — the opening of the Panama Canal in just four years time that could lure liner services to US east coast ports.
With that and many other issues to contend with, and the politicians not displaying much interest, major Pacific seaboard ports and other stakeholders — that may soon include labour — have formed the West Coast Ports Coalition with the aim of speaking with a unified voice in Washington.
Sound familiar?
A ringing endorsement
THOSE who know Christopher Rankin, the former president of P&O Nedlloyd in North America, probably would have had him marked down as a bit of a technophobe.
But apparently not. “I love my iPhone,” he told those attending the ever-popular Legends of Transportation session that always marks the end of the Trans-Pacific Maritime Conference. We cannot wait to hear about his favourite apps.
First port of call
USING former industrial premises for leisure activities has become common for many Germans who spend their weekends at concerts in former steel mills or in an amusement park in a nuclear power plant that was never completed.
The concepts presented during Hamburg’s ideas competition for a new terminal at the port go even further.
Port Engineers Royal Haskooning won first prize in the competition with their suggestion for a CO₂-neutral terminal, integrated into a peninsula which offers visitors the possibility of viewing the terminal from afar. Workers and tourists could get to the peninsula by regular boat services.
Another prize-winning concept envisages glass gangways for visitors to watch operations.
The port has proven to be a major tourist attraction for the city, but the concurrence of work and leisure is always a balancing act — not to mention a security issue.
Maybe there should better be some warning notices for visitors, such as: ships may obstruct your view of the facility. Please declare the contents of your rucksack 24 hours prior to your arrival. And don’t feed the gantry crane drivers.
Coming together
IT WAS time for a change at Germanischer Lloyd — time to move to new headquarters in Hamburg and assemble staff previously spread over 14 locations throughout the city under one new roof.
It took GL three weekends to bring the equipment for all of its 1,600 Hamburg employees to the address in the recently-built and fashionable HafenCity district. A group of journalists were the first to meet board members at their new premises. They sensed the managers’ enthusiasm for the building. The executives claim it will make internal communication easier and help create synergy effects among the different business segments.
That is all the more important as GL has dramatically changed its profile over the past few years and some of its maritime customers may not yet have realised this. “We have changed from a leading classification society to an acknowledged inspection and consulting group for the maritime and energy-related industries,” said board member Joachim Segatz.
