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Port inefficiencies frustrate shipping companies

Dec 28, 2007 Port


Importers are calling for a speedier renovation of the Deep Water Harbour facilities as the present circumstances are proving to be deterrents to visiting vessels.




Reports are that container space has become scarce at the Deep Water Harbour as more containers arrive for the season and fewer numbers are leaving.




The pile goes up as far as five containers high and seven deep in some areas resulting in nearly hundreds of empties waiting to be picked up.




Owner of Consolidated Maritime Services Terrence Dornellas, said it is expected that at this time of the year the empties will increase. But, as some of the ships are running late in their delivery schedules, they do not have the time to devote to clearing the containers from the port as a result. Consequently, they are taking fewer containers with them as they go.

 

A major contributing factor to this, however, is the condition of the port itself.




One problem identified, is that the area where the containers are stored is not cemented or asphalted and so after rainfall, it becomes difficult to access the empties.




“We have a $24 million new car park going up, yet we don’t have a port that works properly. The port is one of the biggest revenue generating entities in the island. They say that they are going to fix everything, but they are moving slowly,” he further commented.




Another factor identified by Island Manager of Tropical Shipping Frank Schwartz is that due to equipment failure, such as the breakdown of stackers, the empties cannot be reloaded as quickly as they should. The congestion itself acts as a deterrent, since the trucks cannot manoeuvre in the right spaces in the port.




A source said that the situation is so bad that shipping companies prefer to leave their empties at the port and pay storage fees rather than tie up their vessels for two or three days to pick up the empties.




Schwartz said that speedier and more frequent pickups would result in a more efficient port.




“We would like to see, if possible, people evacuate the empty containers as often as possible. It would make for more space in the port and smoother transition of other workings that take place in the port,” he said.


Source:RamblerNews

 
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