Fremantle Port looks set to grind to a halt from Sunday morning onwards following the announcement of a planned 48-hour strike by certain personnel from 5:30am on August 18.
Pilot boat operators and vessel traffic service operators will stop work following the failure of the Australian Maritime Officers Union WA (AMOU) and Fremantle Port Authority to reach an agreement over a months-long pay dispute.
Although only a few workers in the wider port’s employ will be walking off the job, the results could, long-term, be catastrophic to global maritime logistics should the strike continue past its initially slated duration.
The strike is far from the only port issue to hit the APAC region’s shipping industry, with China’s Ningbo Port recently re-opening after a 60-hour closure due to an on-board explosion aboard a docked ship.
The Port of Singapore continues to groan under the stress of immense container congestion, and the continued geopolitical unrest in the Middle East has left the immediate future of the sector clouded in uncertainty.
RMIT Professor of Logistics and Supply Chain Management Vinh Thai says the longer any strike goes on, the worse the outcome will be for the shipping industry.
“This strike has not happened suddenly, because the port has been informed in advance,” Thai tells ATN. “What the ships will do is deviate from Fremantle Port and try to find alternatives elsewhere.
“In theory that’s possible. In reality, there are several challenges on the table.
“Nearby ports may not have adequate facilities to accommodate these vessels and their cargo, or the workers may not have the adequate skill and knowledge to handle them.
“The closest adequate or relevant port could be located far away from Perth. Importers would have to travel a longer distance to pick up the cargo, and the lead time for the exporter will be much longer.
“The cost will be increased, and this will lead to higher level macroeconomic issues. The delay will mean the exporter will lose their time competitiveness and the importer will endure increased lead time costs.
“That cost then lands in retail stores, and at the end of the day you and I – the common Australian – who buys those things from the supermarket will be suffering.
“In 2002 there was an 11-day strike at the USA’s West Coast ports. For every day of the strike the negative impact on the shipping lines, cargo owners and whole economy was exponential. The impact is not linear.”
The 2002 strike Thai is alluding to is the West Coast port lockout that was so damaging to the US economy that then-president Bush asked the federal court to order the strike’s end following extensive damage to the nation’s economy.
The impact of that strike is often cited at adding up to roughly $1 billion of damage a day, although there are parties who believe that figure to be overinflated.
That strike saw the shutdown of 29 ports across the United States’ west coast between Seattle and San Diego. It was undertaken on a dramatically larger scale than the impending strike at Fremantle, but the potential exponential rising cost to the local economy and global shipping routes is comparable.
“A strike in Fremantle, the way I see it, will affect several liner services on international routes to North Asia, Europe and America,” Thai continues.
“Not to mention in Australia as well.
“In the liner shipping model, ships must stop at every port – it’s like a bus. During Covid, for example, because of low demand the shipping lines implemented a practice called ‘blank sailing’ meaning they could skip a particular port, but this is not the same situation.
“The situation here is if a ship is delayed then it will affect the whole schedule of the route.”
What, then, are the specifics of the Fremantle Port strike? Not all the workers will be downing tools, in fact, a relatively small percentage of Fremantle Port employees will be stopping work.
There are two major positions that will be striking, pilot boat operators and vessel traffic service officers.
Two roles that, according to Thai, are crucial for getting ships both into and out of port safely, efficiently and legally.
“When ships, especially foreign flag ships, come into an Australian port it is compulsory for there to be a pilot from the port authority to get on board and help the captain navigate the ship into port,” Thai says.
“There will be a distance from where the pilot is picked up and then where the ship needs to navigate to where it is supposed to berth.
“These pilots have to travel on a small boat, so the workers who operate these boats are going on strike.
“The second group is the maritime traffic controllers or navigations workers. They provide assistance for the vessel to come in and out of the port. They’re the eyes for the ships to come out safely.
“With those two groups of workers going on strike, the ships that are already inside the port can continue their loading and discharging, but then they’re basically stuck inside the port because there will be no movement.
“They are not allowed to leave the port, and the ships outside cannot come into the port because it is not safe to do so legally.
“What that means is the port will be congested and have no more space. There will be no pilot to take the ships in, and no maritime traffic workers to help them get the ships in safely.
“After a few days of normal operations – loading, discharging cargo – the port may be shut down if the situation prolongs.”
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