An overhead view of the Kingston container port.
THERE ARE positive signs that the Port of Kingston is making progress in solving the problem of port congestion. The Kingston Container Terminal (KCT), with a rated capacity of 17,000 Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs), had as much as 27,000 TEUs last week but this number was decreased to 23,002 TEUs by yesterday.
Of the 23,002 TEUs at the KCT, just over 3,600 containers are domestic cargo, and of this number 1,215 boxes have been at the terminal for eight days or more. This means that the majority of domestic cargo at the port represents new arrivals, and that deliveries out of the port have increased. The KCT reports that some 380 boxes are now being cleared daily on average.
In mid-October, the Managing Committee of the Shipping Association of Jamaica had formed a special sub-committee to look into the congestion at Port Bustamante and to make recommendations for its solution.
The sub-committee brought together representatives of the wharf companies, shipping agents, trucking, freight forwarding and other shipping industry interests to review the congestion issues, and to assist in returning the
port to its normal high level of efficiency.
The association believes the solutions to the congestion issues reside in a collaborative approach between the port operators, the Port Authority of Jamaica, the Shipping Association, port users and local businesses engaged in trade, as well as trade support organisations.
SAJ CONFIDENT
According to Shipping Association of Jamaica
president Harry Maragh, the
association is confident that Jamaica's maritime industry
partners will successfully
overcome the current challenges through continued cooperation and collaboration. Mr. Maragh says he regrets the inconvenience being experienced by users of the port, adding that the congestion issue is not a localised one.
"Port congestion is currently making headlines the world over. Ports in our region and worldwide are experiencing similar problems as the growth in international trade and a corresponding increase in the world fleet of cargo vessels exert greater stress on berthing and cargo storage facilities, especially at this time of the year," he said.
Commenting on port congestion on both the West and East Coasts of the United States, Dave Ferris of freight forwarders, J. F. Hillebrand, stated in the Shipping Digest on November 29: "The entire supply chain is as stressed as it can
possibly be at this stage we've had some containers buried for three weeks." Shipping Digest also noted that "backlogs at U.S. ports aren't the only ones causing problems for Hillebrand. European ports have also been congested."
MASSIVE PROBLEMS
In Britain, Dr. Andrew Traill, head of maritime cargo policy at the Freight Transport Association, said recently: "There have been massive problems in the 12 weeks leading up to Christmas getting goods and materials into and out of the country. While the ports have been the focus of much of the attention and a target for criticism, we can see that this is far bigger than purely a port operations or management problem."
Dr. Traill's organisation is
adopting a strategy which is similar to that of the Shipping Association of Jamaica. He says: "Rather than just moan about the problems, we decided to get a broad spectrum of appropriate industry representatives together to see if we couldn't all do something together that might avoid the same thing happening next year."
The collaborative steps already taken in Jamaica to achieve short, mid and long-term
solutions include:
Extended opening hours.
Saturday opening at KCT with special Saturday opening at Kingston Wharves on December 18.
Off-stock storage of empty containers (to holding areas outside the port).
Hiring of additional labour.
Acquisition of additional
container-handling equipment.
From as early as October, India's Business Line Internet Magazine reported, "The Cochin Chamber of Commerce and Industry has urged the state chief minister to intervene in the issues being faced by Kochi Port on account of congestion,
saying that the current situation will have a severe and adverse
backlash on the socio-economic development of the state."
Australia's Sunday Telegraph reported on December 4 that Federal Labour Treasury spokesman Wayne Swan noted, "Chronic port congestion was choking exports of key
commodities, at a cost of
millions of dollars."
