b"8American Journal of Transportation ajot.comGlobal terminal operators 2020looking beyond Covid terminal operators he econD aVe By George Lauriat, AJOT & stevedores 2020tsw izedbytradeprotectionism Asthesecondwave(orandsocio-politicalunrests. third wave by some measures)While the global economy has oftheCovid-19pandemicdoggedlyweatheredaslow-sweepsthroughEuropeanddownintrade,itsresilience theAmericas,thereisoncebegantowaneasstrained againuncertaintyastotherelationshipsbetweenmajor pandemicslong-termeco- tradingnationsexacerbated nomic impacts.intoopentariffwars.The What weve already expe- shippingindustryhadto rienced in 2020 is the highlygrapplenotonlywithexis-unusualcontractionofbothtential and operational issues productionand consumption,broughtaboutbyanemic reducing international trade cargo flow, but also the high particularly the movement ofcosts, strategic decisions and containers. There are few par- tactical maneuvers necessary allels, although economicallytocomplywiththeInterna-the2009financialcollapsetional Maritime Organization has some similarities except- (IMO)2020globalSulphur ing the unknown factors of theregulationthatwentinto rolling health risks. (BEYONDcontinued on Fortheglobalterminalpage 9) Cranes on the move to the Hugh K. Leatherman Terminal in Charleston Harbor, SC.operators, the pandemics most immediateimpactwasthe rapid withdrawal of container-ship servicesblank sailings. The reduction in boxship callsDear Shippers,was further complicated by the health risks to stevedores han-dling the ships as how to keep personnel safe became a para-mount objective for operators.Think Outside of theBlanksailingannounce-mentssoaredforweekssix througheightof2020[Feb. 3-23]hitting121[acombi-nation of Chinese New Year, the pandemic and IMO regu- Big Box Portslations] boxship layups piled upandbylateMayhitting 2.70 million TEUs or 11.6% of the world fleeta number evenlargerthanduringthe shipping plunge accompany-ing the 2009 Great Recession. With locations in Wilmington, DE and Fairless Hills, PA,But that all changed in a blink of an eye. By June the blanksailingannouncementsPort Contractors offers two convenient alternatives towere down to 2 a week and by October the inactive fleetthe ports of New York, New Jersey, and Philadelphia.had dropped to only 430,000 TEUs.Inrecentmonths, weveseendemandmoveSpecializing in bulk, break bulk, and project cargoes,from a trickle to a torrent, as containerrateshavesoared [DrewrysWCIcontainerwe'll take care of everything from the stevedoring,indexrosefrom$1,200per 40-foot container on Oct 12,inventory control, and terminal handling services to be2019 to over $2,600 in Sept. 2020] and port congestion and cargodelayshaveincreased.a one-stop shop for all your cargo management needs.Will this flood of boxes con-tinue?Wedontknowbut evenwithsocio-economic instabilityoftheaccompa-nyingpandemic,thereareYour friend and future stevedore,somereoccurringtrendsfor terminal operators. And these trends will shape both the near and long-term future for con-tainer terminal operations. Evenpriortothepan-demic, box terminal operators were wrestling with a confus-ing host of issues. Peter Voser, GroupChairmanforSin-gapore-basedPSAInterna-tional, the worlds largest box terminal operator, in the 2019 annualreport,summedup the situation facing the entireP.S For more information on all of our locations, visit portcontractors.comindustry, writing: 2019 was a challenging year character-"