Australia – Christmas and New Year 2012 Port Hours and Freetime
- Day 1 January - Work will recommence start of dayshift 1st
Usually free time is calculated on calendar days, however, we will not count the following calendar We would like to advise all of our customers of the port closures and container detention free time days applicable for this festive season.
National port closures are currently scheduled as follows:
- Christmas Eve 24 December - Work will cease at the end of dayshift 24th
- Christmas Day 25 December – No work (all shifts)
- Boxing Day 26 December - Work will recommence dayshift 26th
- New Year’s Eve 31 December - Work will cease at the end of dayshift 31st
New Year’s days on account of holidays:
- Christmas Day – 25 December 2012
- Boxing Day – 26 December 2012
- New Year’s Day – 1 January 2013
Stevedore profits increase while labour productivity falls
A 4.2% throughput increase at all ports was achieved by stevedores in 2011-12 and rates of return increased from 24.2% in 2010-11 to 2011-12 to 29.2%, the government competition watchdog has found.Â
“Industry profitability remains significantly above the average for the ASX top 200 companies and almost all overseas container operators,†said the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in its 14th container stevedore monitoring report.
Profits were driven by higher industry earnings and a reduction in the value of the industry’s asset base, the ACCC said, adding that the industry asset base fell by 12.2% in 2011–12, largely due to a write-down by Patrick of the value of assets (mostly at Port Botany and at Melbourne) in June 2011.
Unit costs increased by 1% to $94.30/teu – “entirely driven†by higher nominal unit labour costs, which increased by 7.5% during 2011–12 and corresponded with negotiations for enterprise bargaining agreements at terminals.
Meanwhile, labour productivity fell from 41.4 containers an hour in 2012-11 to 39.6 in 2011–12, which was described as the first “significant fall†in labour productivity since 1998-99.
Capital productivity fell from 29.2 containers per hour in 2010-11 to 29.1 in 2011-12.
Looking forward, the ACCC welcomed the addition of capacity at “most ports†and the scheduled entry of Hutchison Port Holdings in Brisbane and Sydney next year.
It also gave a warning to the market incumbents.
“Existing stevedores should be careful not to use their position to unfairly hinder a new entrant from establishing itself. Where there is any evidence of this occurring, the ACCC will use its powers to investigate and, if necessary, take enforcement action through the courts,†a spokesman said.
Editor's Note - during publication, the Maritime Union issued a statement condemning the ACCC report as "out of touch and distorted".
“In significant parts of its reports, the ACCC clearly doesn’t understand, or doesn't want to understand what is underway in our ports thanks in large part to our negotiations ad work with the companies," Maritime Union of Australia national secretary Paddy Crumlin said.
Source: Lloyds List Aust Nov 2012
MUA fined for unlawful industrial action
Two officials from the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) and the organisation itself have been imposed with fines totalling $36,300 for two separate incidents of unlawful industrial action in Western Australia.
The MUA was fined $26,400 and two of its Western Australian branch officials, Chris Cain and William Tracey, were fined $2640 and $7260 respectively.
Mr Cain, Mr Tracey and the MUA were penalised in the Perth Federal Court  following an investigation by the Fair Work Ombudsman.
In May 2009, 113 employees from DP World in Fremantle went on strike for about 24 hours in relation to possible redundancies.
Mr Tracey told the court that five days prior to the action he had talked with managers at DP World and said: “If we can’t amicably come to an agreement on the redundancies, there’ll be industrial actionâ€.
During the hearing Mr Cain, Mr Tracey and the MUA admitted that they were involved in organising the unlawful action at Fremantle.
In March 2010, 15 employees from the Broome Port Authority went on strike for 24 hours because “they had been disrespectedâ€.
Before the strike, Mr Tracey had told the chief executive officer at Broome Port that they would “bring the port to its kneesâ€.
Mr Tracey and the MUA were fined over the incident.
Source: Lloyds List Aust Nov 2012
Directors are responsible for safe and compliant heavy vehicle container transport... and not just the truckies!
Over the last 12 months we have witnessed news reports highlighting tragedies that have occurred on NSW roads as a of result dangerous practices involving the transportation of containerised freight.
As well as the loss of human life, other incidents have resulted in significant costs to major infrastructure and traffic congestion.
Australian customs procedures lead the world
Australian customs procedures are among the best in the world, a leading international expert believes.
Susanne Aigner, the deputy director compliance and facilitation for the World Customs Organization (WCO) in Brussels spoke at the recent CBFCA national conference in Victoria.
“Globally and from an international perspective, Australia is often used as one of the best examples.
Australia's manufacturing sector has contracted for the ninth month in a row, with weakness in both production and new orders.
The Australian Industry (Ai) Group performance of manufacturing index (PMI) dropped 1.6 points to 43.6 in November.
While the index posted a slight of 1.1 points in October, it remains below 50, which indicates the sector has been contracting since February.
New orders also contracted for nine months - falling 0.4 points to 43.5 in November, while production declined for an eighth month, by 0.4 points to 44.8.
Industry sub-sectors were also weak, with only one - food and beverages - reporting an expansion.
Textiles, clothing and footwear; chemical, petroleum and coal products; construction materials; basic metals and fabricated metals all reported notable declines.
Ai Group chief executive Innes Willox said the industry was facing several challenges to growth.
"The key concerns for manufacturers remain the high dollar, rising energy costs and weak demand in export and local markets," he said.
"These factors are exacerbated by the ongoing slump in the residential and commercial construction sectors and have not been offset by the reduction in interest rates to date.
"Mounting costs are putting manufacturing businesses under relentless pressure, adding to the case for further interest rate cuts."
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will meet on December 4 for its last cash rate decision for 2012.
Several economists expect the RBA will cut the rate by 0.25 per cent, from the current 3.25 per cent.
Source: AAP Dec, 2012
Source: Lloyds List Aust Nov 2012
MUA fined for unlawful industrial action
Two officials from the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) and the organisation itself have been imposed with fines totalling $36,300 for two separate incidents of unlawful industrial action in Western Australia.
Both strikes, one in Fremantle in 2009 and the other in Broome in 2010, were considered to be unlawful because workers downed tools before their enterprise agreements had expired.
The MUA was fined $26,400 and two of its Western Australian branch officials, Chris Cain and William Tracey, were fined $2640 and $7260 respectively. Mr Cain, Mr Tracey and the MUA were penalised in the Perth Federal Court  following an investigation by the Fair Work Ombudsman. In May 2009, 113 employees from DP World in Fremantle went on strike for about 24 hours in relation to possible redundancies. Mr Tracey told the court that five days prior to the action he had talked with managers at DP World and said: “If we can’t amicably come to an agreement on the redundancies, there’ll be industrial actionâ€. During the hearing Mr Cain, Mr Tracey and the MUA admitted that they were involved in organising the unlawful action at Fremantle. In March 2010, 15 employees from the Broome Port Authority went on strike for 24 hours because “they had been disrespectedâ€. Before the strike, Mr Tracey had told the chief executive officer at Broome Port that they would “bring the port to its kneesâ€. Mr Tracey and the MUA were fined over the incident.
Source: Lloyds List Aust Nov 2012 Directors are responsible for safe and compliant heavy vehicle container transport... and not just the truckies! Over the last 12 months we have witnessed news reports highlighting tragedies that have occurred on NSW roads as a of result dangerous practices involving the transportation of containerised freight. As well as the loss of human life, other incidents have resulted in significant costs to major infrastructure and traffic congestion.
So what are the authorities doing about it ?
In order to comply with expectations set by the Roads and Maritime Service (RMS), Port Botany’s stevedores have recently introduced weigh in motion (WIM) technology to measure mass and axle weight compliance for loads exiting the terminal gate. All reports indicate that this process has been effectively implemented with only teething issues in dealing with loads needing rectification at container freight stations located within the port precinct. Whilst this solution has come at a cost to the international trade sector, it has delivered significant benefit in managing overweight compliance issues.
Based on the success of the Port Botany experience, it would seem like a logical progression for regulators to impose similar requirements at other Australian ports.
The next challenge is how to best work towards compliance in terms of heavy loads being safely loaded and restrained within containers. Movement of loads has seen some penetrate container walls or result in uneven axle weight distribution.
Besides the obvious risks that this poses for road users, the next question is “who is liable�
Transport operators are totally dependent on details provided by customs brokers and freight forwarders on container weight declarations. Equally, these intermediaries are reliant on information provided by their clients being importers and exporters. RMS has made it clear that they intend to investigate each party associated with container transportation in line with “chain of responsibility†statutory provisions. RMS will ask Directors from these companies to account for operational practices and steps taken to ensure that they are contributing to safe practices.
Source: Lloyds List Aust Nov 2012Â
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