Smaller ports angling for piece of the action

Among them are operators such as La Spezia Container Terminal (LSCT) in Italy, which over the past year or so has been actively campaigning to draw traffic on the Asia-Med routes to their terminal, which is part of the Eurokai Group and one of the few privately run ports in the Mediterranean.

Meanwhile others such as Port Everglades in Florida have been improving infrastructure and could benefit from changes in the trade flows as well as the expansion of the Panama Canal.

Speaking to Seatrade Maritime News, Port Everglades business development director Jim Pyburn said he sees a niche for the port as a gateway for Asian carriers keen to serve the Caribbean and Latin American market without having to make direct calls.

He noted that this is a growth market for many Asian lines and exporters. "That plays out very well for us because we are the gateway to that region," Pyburn said, adding that it offers very good frequencies into that market, with some feeders running as often as three times a week.

While he was not able to give exact comparison figures, Pyburn noted that currently less than 3% of the port's approximately 1m teu annual volume is from Asia. "That shows it's very small and we have nowhere to go but up," he quipped.

Far East Coast Railway president and ceo James Hertwig added that relaxation in port security regulations in the US should also see a rise in the transhipment trade, which once accounted for over 20% of volumes at the south Florida ports but declined to low single digits post 9-11. He believes these volumes can come back to the same level in the next few years.

Pyburn said Port Everglades is three years into a 20-year master plan to upgrade the port and so far $1.6bn has been spent on works such as building five new berths, adding up to six new super post-Panamax cranes and extensions to the turning basin. The approach channel will also be deepened to allow 9,000-teu vessels to come in fully laden.

Yet another plus point for Port Everglades is their good connections to Cuba. As the country starts to open up, Pyburn believes that the demand for imports and particularly cost-effective Chinese goods will rise.

"There's a lot of potential and I think the Asian market sees that," he said, adding that the potential transshipment volumes are also set to benefit Port Everglades.

For LSCT, which currently connects to some 50 plus Far East and Oceania ports via five weekly services, the operator, is banking on a seven to 10-day cut in ocean transit time into European markets to lure shippers.

The marketing strategy seems to be working. "Imports from Asia to Italy have grown," said Contship Italia commercial director Michael Cashman, estimating a growth rate of about 4% to 5% this year.

Prime among his efforts has been correcting the perception that Italian ports are problematic. Key customers such as Cosco, Maersk, MSC, and the CKYHE and G6 alliances in their current forms are making use of its gateway solutions for Southern Europe and fully integrated rail and road connections to Northern Italy and Central Europe.

"The word and the knowledge of La Spezia is growing," he added. "We can be satisfied with what we're doing," he said.

"Almost 50% of our volumes originate to and from Asia," Cashman said, noting that 13 out of the top 15 global lines and all the lines that serve the Asia-Italy trade lane call at LSCT.

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