THE PORTNET compensation agreement with the shipping lines has now been in place for over a month - And no claims yet, according to Ronnie Kingwill, g.m. operations.
This allows compensation if - as a result of poor Portnet management, or uncontrollable circumstances like wildcat strikes, as Kingwill put it - the harbour authorities can't work a ship within 16 hours of the agreed time.
At the same time ships have to stick to a six hour berthing window around the ETA (estimated time of arrival) originally posted with Portnet.
Labour productivity is being encouraged with an incentive scheme - where the current R350 bonus is being incorporated into salaries, and will be replaced by the new scheme.
The nitty-gritty on that policy document, said Kingwill, is still being worked on.
The success of the new scheme will give Portnet a 12-month window in which it can get all its ducks in a row for the next step.
This, Kingwill told FTW, will be an integration of Portnet's tariff review process with an individual agreement with each of the lines.
We'll then have a year to introduce the service level agreements with each of the carriers, he said.
Portnet intends to have five pilot schemes in place with a yet-to-be-chosen group of customers.
We're working hard at getting back to building a relationship with the lines, said Kingwill - laying emphasis on the word with.
He sees five key steps in this process:
l The appointment of a g.m. for container business;
l The advisory/operational contracts with P&O Ports representatives - busy guiding the terminal at Durban into a productive future;
l The agreement on compensation;
l The service level agreements; and
l The labour incentive schemes.
Copyright Now Media (Pty) Ltd
No article may be reproduced without the written permission of the editor
To respond to this article send your email to joyo@nowmedia.co.za
