Page 78: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (November 2013)

78 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News ? NOVEMBER 2013 MR DIGITAL When you leave the page and head to the screen, Maritime Reporter offers the most digital and online news offerings. Here are select stories from last month on MaritimeProfessional.comPerhaps Maersk is taking revenge on Virginia. Al- though details are still coming through and being thrashed out, it seems that Virginia is possibly getting less attention from the P3 Alliance than it would like. In terms of direct port pair calls, Norfolk is getting 10 a week, compared with 15 for Savannah and 14 for New York. Los Angeles/Long Beach are showing their muscle with 23 calls (according to MSC, whose Þ gures are slightly different to those of its two part- ners.) Analysts were expecting a snub of some sort to Virginia after it rejected Maersk?s offer to operate all the Virginia Port Authority?s terminals, and the think- ing is that Maersk already had a vague plan for an al-liance when the offer was made. In fact, it?s not too far-fetched to speculate that some sort of hub was be- ing planned in that region, but this idea has now been squelched. (Notwithstanding the fact that ex-Maersk exec is the new Executive Director at the VPA.) But even LA/Long Beach are nervous about the new arrangement. Long Beach harbor president Thomas Fields told a meeting, sponsored by the PaciÞ c Mer- chant Shipping Association, of discussions with the shipping lines, ?They told us in no uncertain terms that they would be drastically cutting down on the num-ber of ports and terminals where they send their ships. They have choices like never before.?As Fields also points out, the Big Box retailers only send about 20% of their cargo through Long Beach/ LA, down from more than 60% 10 years ago.And even the Federal Maritime Commission is ner- vous. Chairman Mario Cordero wants a meeting with opposite numbers from Europe and China on the ef-fects of the alliance. ?One of my concerns relates to media reports that a combined east-west ß eet of 346 vessels will be reduced to 255 vessels once the pro-posed Alliance is consummated,? said commissioner William Doyle. Ports need to concentrate on their infrastructure as much as on issues like the volume of business. Port-Miami director Bill Johnson told the TOC Americas recently, ?The U.S. has historically been a leader in building smart infrastructure, but for decades now we have lagged. Not only am I talking about port infra-structure but you have to connect that infrastructure through a smart and intelligent road system, by rail, and through intermodal centers. There is an ongoing need for strategic investment in ports. I see the invest-ment in China and in other parts of the world and they have outpaced the United States signiÞ cantly for de- cades,?The link between more business and better facilities is ironclad.Posted by Martin Rushmere, W. Coast U.S., on MaritimeProfessional.com Nerves Abound in the U.S. Over the P3 AllianceMaritimeProfessional.comPanama Expansion Gets Latin America MovingThe widening of the Panama Canal has put a rocket up the infrastructure plans of ports across the Americas. The expected launch of Panama 2.0 is "sometime in 2015" and ports across the U.S. East Coast - at least the ones that have received funding - are busy digging away to make the channels and berths deep enough for the big ships.But it is not only U.S. ports that are getting ready. In the Caribbean and South America, ports that have nev- er featured high on any "potential hub" list are building and expanding their own facilities in a bid to capture the increasing business.Baranquilla and Cartagena in Colombia, Suape and Santos in Brazil, ports on Mexico's Gulf coast and the Caribbean - all are working on improving seaside and inland port access. Emerging markets trade has dropped off this year after several years of impressive growth. It is giving the ports across Latin America, and Africa too, for that matter, some breathing space to sort out the considerable infrastructural shortcomings ports across the developing world share.A serious amount of work needs to be done in all these ports, especially those that handle direct exports and imports. Transhipment is easier to cope with - you build a bunch of deep berths and a big yard and fo-cus on improving productivity and lobby the shipping lines like hell to include you on their schedules. But the ports that are handling direct containers inbound or for export need massive improvements to their road and rail networks. In some cases the terminals need to be relocated outside busy city limits.The problem is that everyone wants to be a hub, and that is not possible. Fortunately, it is not a zero sum game. Ports that do manage to become hubs and can handle the huge container volumes that accompany that status will need a robust feeder network to keep their terminals busy. This is where the smaller ports come in. The infra- structure investments are needed regardless of whether they become the busiest ports in the region or act as a feeders for the hubs. What they will have to overcome, however, is an approach described by a speaker at the Air and Seacargo Americas conference here in Miami recently as ?let them come and we will build it.? Make no mistake, it is a race with very lucrative ben-eÞ ts. The ports that can quickly develop the ability to handle large volumes of containers ef Þ ciently will pick up momentum that will be hard to stop. Still, pouring concrete is the easy part. The real work will lie in convincing governments to adjust protec-tionist regulations and remove barriers to trade.Posted by Greg Knowler, Hong Kong, on MaritimeProfessional.com The ß uyt or ß uitschip was one of the Þ rst ocean-go- ing ships built exclusively for commerce. Previously, ships tended to be built to perform the dual role of Þ ghting battles and carrying cargo. Thus, their con- struction was fairly robust and they carried cannons, ammunition and combat personnel. The Dutch did away with that. The ß uyt was lightly constructed. It carried only sufÞ cient armament to fend off pirates and the entire crew was working sailors. To maximize cargo capacity while minimizing crew size, the main deck was relatively small, but the hull bulged out on the sides, creating a ?fat-bottomed? or pear-shaped cross-section. This design also had the advantage of reducing ship tolls, particularly through the Øresund, where the Danish toll was based on the dimensions of the main deck. The ß uyt carried three stubby masts, with the fore and main square-rigged and the mizzen lateen-rigged. While not speedy, these vessels were inexpensive, both to build and to operate. Typically about 80 feet in length, they operated with a crew of about 35 men. They could carry twice the cargo of their counterparts at half the cost. First built in 1595, they soon allowed the Dutch to dominate international maritime trade, Þ rst to the Baltic and then to India and the Far East. The ß uyt was the favored vessel of the Dutch East India Company, which dominated the Far East trade for almost a century. It took the British a surprisingly long time to adopt and modify the design, which they referred to as an East Indiaman vessel. Posted by Dennis Bryant onMaritimeProfessional.com FLUYTThe merchant vessel responsible for 17th century Dutch trade dominance MR #11 (74-81).indd 78MR #11 (74-81).indd 7811/12/2013 4:14:42 PM11/12/2013 4:14:42 PM