Coronavirus: What should ports and terminals do?
Talking on Zoom yesterday to a group of university students studying the port industry, I was asked: What are the key things that ports and terminals should be doing in the face of the dark cloud that is coronavirus? These are the three things that immediately came to my mind:
- Look after your people. Ports and terminals are highly mechanised, highly digitalised places, but are nothing without the people that run and operate them. Take all available and sensisble measures to protect not only employees but also the myriad users of the port such as truck drivers.
- Be flexible and forgiving with your customers. Shipping lines, cargo owners and forwarders are grappling with hugely disrupted supply chains and unprecedented challenges. Try and accommodate them as much as possible.
- Accept that the short term macro issues (trade volume crash) are beyond your control and concentrate on the long term.
MD Cameron Maritime Resources
4 年Neil, this is really good advice for any business right now. Having just completed a study on the effects of Corvid-19 for Hon. Company of Master Mariners, with crew changes stopped, many seafarers are either stuck on ships, or at home off-pay, it would be good to see the rest of maritime industry adopt these standards.
CEO (retired)
4 年Hi Neil, you are right - would suggest to add one item = make an extra effort to discuss and coordinate with other stakeholders (Port Authorities/pilots/customs/truckers/agents/end clients etc as each has information and solutions/restraints that need alignment. Having such a open session in few hours....