THE recently formed Hong Kong Seaport Alliance is looking to reclaim 2 million TEU of volume from its competitors in the region by 2020, Group managing director of Modern Terminals, Peter Levesque said in a recent address to the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.
He described the Alliance as a joint venture functioning as a merger of the four terminal operators - Modern Terminals, HIT, Cosco-HIT, and ACT. Mr Levesque said the Alliance would share revenues, share operation costs and share profit.
"This is not just a friendly handshake," he insisted. "This arrangement is necessary because the only way that we can provide the best service to customers is in a terminal neutral environment. The only way we can be terminal neutral is if our interests are aligned."
He stressed that the four terminal operators here no longer compete with each other in Hong Kong. Instead they have come together so that Hong Kong can compete with other ports in the region. Specifically, the transshipment ports of Taiwan, Singapore, Busan and Tanjung Pelepas.
Key to the increased efficiencies being promised under the Alliance is the creation of three distinct zones within the port that will receive ships on the basis of the three liner shipping alliances (The Alliance, 2M Alliance, and Ocean Alliance). Under the new arrangement the entire operation will be controlled by a single control tower rather than four as was the case before the Alliance, The Hong Kong Maritime Hub reported.
"The Hong Kong Seaport Alliance reduces inefficiencies by eliminating truck moves, by getting ships in and out of Hong Kong faster and operating on a terminal-neutral basis," said Mr Levesque.
"This will allow us to put new commercial deals together to incentivise volume back to the port," he said.
2019/5/14 6:22:43