Essay Sample on Port Automation

In the international shipping industry efficiency and productivity is of utter importance. Technology has been put into operation all around the world to make the ports more productive and efficient. After containerization changed the shipping industry it was tough to think that there more innovation lay ahead for the industry. Human beings have handled cargo in the ports for the longest time since time in memorial. In order to keep with the growing needs for efficiency and productivity, it is inevitable for ports all over the world to embrace port automation. In America, the ports, in general, are some of the technologically challenged in the world.

Recently Netherlands opened a new port terminal in Rotterdam which has become the worlds most advanced container-ship terminal. America still lags far behind when you compare operations in Rotterdam with the operations in most of the American ports. One of the problems that have led to this lag is the containers locks in most of the ports have to be unlocked by a human being. This container lock must be removed before a container can be offloaded from a ship. There is fear that in a fully automated system the computerized cranes might not recognize the human unlocking the container. This leads to a risk of very many accidents. Therefore, this holds back ports automation until the shipping companies adopt automatic locking and unlocking apparatus that reduce human interaction when unlocking containers.

The cost of building an entirely automated port is very expensive, and this has been a hindrance in getting automation in American ports. The Rotterdam post was built at the cost of over $535 million. Economists argue that automation is financially justified when a port handles around one million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in a year. Most of the ports in the United States do not meet this threshold. This is a very significant factor that must be assessed because of the return on investment. The United States has to look for trade partnerships which will help their terminals attain this volume which allow them to employ automation.

The major hindrance to port automation in the United States is the labor unions. Port automation is estimated to eliminate about 40%-50% of the labor force working in the ports. The ports on the west coast of the United States belong to one union which is the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU). The ILWU gives the labor force a dominant bargaining power. If the ILWU issues a strike notice it does not affect one port but rather all the ports that are on the west coast. The union back in the 1960s was opposed to the use of computerized systems to track cargo and the introduction of containers. Finally, the union accepted these new technological advancements and in return bargained for higher income for the retained employees and buyouts for the ones who were laid off. Taking this scenario into account, with the automation of ports the ILWU will have to be compensated for any loss of jobs. An average member of the union gets about $147000 in a year in remuneration and get an additional $82000 in benefits. Therefore, getting payouts for these employees today will be an expensive affair for the terminal operators.

Technology changes will, without doubt, catch up with this port automation just like any other industry. The short-run impacts of these changes are undesirable but in the long-run technology will end up creating new and well-paying job opportunities. The port automation is expected to have a more significant return on investment that will be able to cater for the settlement of the unions. Technology has manifested time and again that it can create a more successful and interconnected world.