ContributionsGreater ChinaPorts and Logistics

Things I think about when running: Hubs as opposed to ports

In one month and one day, I’ll be running the London Marathon with my fiancée, Eliza. In the run up to the 26.2 miles – in aid of Sailors’ Society – I’m writing a series of articles that – however vaguely – link shipping with running, by way of thanks to those that have sponsored us and to encourage others to support this worthy cause.

SponsorsLatest

I was never a fan of running when young. At school, cross country meant seeking out corners to cut and looking puffed out when joining the throng of runners towards the end of the exercise.

It was only as a 22-year-old living on an outlying island in Hong Kong that I got into running – never seriously, per se – more as a way to have a passing acquaintance with fitness and for a moment to rest and reorder my cluttered brain from the hectic daily life that comes with living in Hong Kong, among the most crowded places on earth.

My regular run, from 2000 to 2008, went along the coast and the spine of the northern portion of Lamma Island, a hippy haven half an hour’s ferry ride from downtown. The route takes in stunning vistas – not least a procession of ever larger containerships.

I’ve just been back in the former British colony on a flying visit – and took the opportunity to revisit my old running routes as training for the big day on April 24. Spiralling rents have ensured Lamma has largely lost its old bohemian feel. Thick fog prevented any ship spotting for me on this trip.

Earlier this week I was invited onto local radio in Hong Kong to discuss the decline of the city’s port. The 50-minute discussion was set to look at the Special Administrative Region’s falling throughput figures – and so the producers said – its corresponding maritime decline. There is this massive disconnect with much of mainstream media and the general public – whatever the city – that continues to associate port numbers with a city’s shipping fortunes. (And don’t get me started on the mainstream media’s ignorance of shipping – it’s remarkable crude trades are doing so well given how every ship you see on rolling news channels is always described as a tanker.)

Hong Kong’s port has been in decline for a long time. It lost the mantle of busiest boxport in the world back in 2005 and has never recovered. Its figures last year were especially poor. The fact is, it is not quite on the factory doorstep, unlike Shenzhen next door and the cost of port operations in Hong Kong are prohibitive.

However, here is where the fallacy lies. A declining port does not have to mean a shipping hub on the wane. Far from it. Just look at the likes of Oslo or London, neither of which has been a massive, world beating port for years, but both remain hugely important hubs for shipping – whether it is in finance, law, insurance, shipowning or brokering.

Under C Y Leung, the incredibly unpopular leader of Hong Kong, more has been done to promote shipping than at any time since reunification with the mainland 19 years ago. However, he leaves next year – and still the public at large make the false assumption that handling less containers equals a shipping hub on the wane. Ports and hubs are two different things – Hong Kong still has plenty to offer the world of shipping, it just needs to better elucidate what that is to the world and the local population. It is also an ace place to go running, when smog permits. Tomorrow marks the month-countdown to the marathon … and a pint or three.

Sam Chambers

Starting out with the Informa Group in 2000 in Hong Kong, Sam Chambers became editor of Maritime Asia magazine as well as East Asia Editor for the world’s oldest newspaper, Lloyd’s List. In 2005 he pursued a freelance career and wrote for a variety of titles including taking on the role of Asia Editor at Seatrade magazine and China correspondent for Supply Chain Asia. His work has also appeared in The Economist, The New York Times, The Sunday Times and The International Herald Tribune.

Comments

  1. Sam
    First, congratulations on ‘going where man (in this case, you I presume) has never been before’ ie, marriage. Your life will never be the same again (hopefully, in the best way possible)!
    Second, my understanding is that HK was historically a regional port. Its prominence resulted when it was effectively China’s ‘windows to the world’. Now that this role is unnecessary, Shanghai/Shenzhen will/have become ‘the’ ports again. This said, I wholeheartedly agree with you with your London/Oslo comparison. Increasingly also, container counts will not be the ‘whole story’, especially with the ever increasing ship sizes, alliance consolidation, etc.

    Third, when I run I also drift off on port issues sometimes, in my case on subjects like the future structure of port authorities, as the prevailing ones are incapable of addressing all of the challenges the PA’s face and will face.

    The best of luck in good fortune to you…

  2. Best wishes to you and Eliza for the marathon Sam.

    I was asked recently by the mainstream media whether the closure of Maersk’s regional commercial office in Singapore (“relocating” to HK) was the start of the end of Singapore as a maritime capitol! This was not per se a relocation, but an integration of two offices and since 60% of Maersk’s Asia origin volume stems from China, it makes some sense to place it close to the Customers. The regional office in Singapore hosts a maximum of 10 employees, and is one of 20+ APM-Maersk business units in Singapore. They had also completely over-looked the relocation of the CMA regional office in the other direction – 250 headcount.

    I was invited to speak on the RTHK Radio 3 show, and made pretty much the same points that you have here. The size of the port is not equal to the size of the importance of a city or country to the maritime industry. Why would you wish to dedicate scarce and expensive land to low revenue, volatile and highly nomadic container hub operations.

    HK will remain a maritime center for many years or decades above. It is easy to do business there, English is widely spoken, and there is a lot of local talent with experience and a strong desire to work in the sector.

Back to top button