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AUTOMATION
was said to be the best road to shipping
success by speakers at the TPM Asia Conference
at the Hotel Intercontinental in Shenzhen
this week.
But
automation in the widest sense - from the
interoperability of ship and shore gear
to a more automatic co-operation between
often mistrustful waterfront agencies whose
interface problems gum up the works.
Before
each speaker agreed with the last one that
this was the way forward, adding to a widening
the definition of automation as they did
so, they each addressed their own areas
of concern.
Hua
Joo Tan, Alphaliner's executive consultant,
saw the future of shipping as one of slow
organic growth rather than great leap forwards,
with shipping alliances and mergers playing
less of a role than widely supposed.
The
day-to-day emphasis would be cost cutting,
and the more automation, the more benefit
would be achieved by all, he said.
The
key factor was the continuing flow of fresh
tonnage into the market, expected to increase
eight per cent in the coming year versus
a 4.6 per cent in anticipated shipping demand
growth.
"There
is no evidence to support the belief that
18,000-TEU ships or big shipping alliances
will bring about rate stability," said
Mr Hua, who cited US$600 per TEU as the
last Asia-Europe rate quote he had heard.
Mr
Hua traced the present state of affairs
to the advent of the "Daily Maersk"
in 2012, which directly led to the growth
of mega alliances, to meet the Danish shipping
giant's "conveyor belt" threat
to their market share.
Some
of the force of the Daily Maersk idea was
lost when circumstances induced the Danish
shipping giant to drop a day from the service.
But
the alliance ball was rolling. Starting
with the G6 made up of APL, Hapag Lloyd,
Hyundai Merchant Marine, MOL, NYK and OOCL
and then followed by the CKYH group, made
up of Cosco, "K" Line, Yang Ming,
Hanjin and lately joined Evergreen Marine,
moved to stave off the threat.
This
culminated in the later China-banned P3
Network of the three big lines, Maersk,
MSC and CMA CGM, but then dissolved into
the recently formed 2M of Maersk and MSC,
with jilted CMA CGM joining the new Ocean
Three created with UASC and China Shipping.
All
this is nothing new, said Mr Hua, who said
it would not solve what ails shipping today,
recalling alliances and conferences of the
1980s, which did not help shipping companies,
some of which are no longer in business.
Panelist
Andy Lane, partner in Container Transport
International Consulting, contradicted claims
that "big ships bring big problems"
as they take up whole quays meant for two
ships leaving cranes idle, which he said
was problem easily solve by bring four cranes
to work the ship.
Panelist
Sandra Moran, marketing chief for electronic
booking and billing company INTTRA, which
serves 54 shipping lines and NVOs worldwide,
said shippers are increasingly disappointed
with slowing on-time performance.
She
noted that the time it took between the
time the ship docked to the time the cargo
was available ranged from two to three days
and got worse from year to year.
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