Table Of ContentElements of Port Operation and Management
BOOKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR:
(1981) Elements of Shipping. 5th edn. Chapman and Hall London.
(1982) Economics of Shipping Practice and Management. 1st edn.
Chapman and Hall London (2nd edition in preparation).
(1984) Elements of Export Marketing Management. 1st edn.
Chapman and Hall London.
(1985) Elements of Export Practice. 2nd edn. Chapman and Hall
London.
(1982) Dictionary of Shipping/International Trade Terms and
Abbreviations. 2nd edn. Witherby and Co. London (3rd edition
in preparation, 8000 entries).
(1984) Dictionary of Commercial Terms and Abbreviations. 1st
edn. (6000 entries). Witherby and Co. London.
(1986) Dictionary of Multilingual Shipping/International Trade/
Commercial Terms in English - French - German - Spanish
1st edn (10 000 entries). Witherby and Co. London.
Elements of
Port Operation
and Management
ALAN E. BRANCH
FCIT, FlEx., AlTA
Shipping Executive I Lecturer I Chief Examiner in Shipping and
Export Practice I Shipping, Port and Export Consultant
LONDON NEW YORK
CHAPMAN AND HALL
First published in 1986 by
Chapman and Hall Ltd
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
Published in the USA by
Chapman and Hall
29 West 35th Street, New York NY 10001
© 1986 Alan E. Branch
Softcover reprint oft he hardcover 1st edition 1986
This title is available in both hardbound and paperback
editions. The paperback edition is sold subject to the
condition that it shall not, by way oft rade or otherwise, be
lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the
publisher's prior consent in any form ofb inding or cover
other than that in which it is published and without a
similar condition including this condition being imposed
on the subsequent purchaser.
All rights reserved. No part oft his book may be reprinted,
or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any
electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying and
recording, or in any information storage and retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Branch, Alan E.
Elements of port operation and management.
1. Harbors-Management
I. Title
381.1 HE551
ISBN-13: 978-94-010-8313-3 e-ISBN-13: 978-94-009-4087-1
001: 10.1 007/978-94-009-4087-1
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Branch, Alan E.
Elements of port operations and management.
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
1. Harbors-Management. I. Title.
HE551.B52 1986 387.1'068 85-24301
TO
PHILLIP AND ELIZABETH
Contents
Preface xi
I
Acknowledgements Xlll
Diagrams xv
Tables XVI
1 Role and function of seaports in the trading pattern of
a nation 1
Scope of book. Function of seaports. Factors
determining the shipowner's/shipper's choice of port.
Future trends in international trade.
2 Economics of international trade 9
Function of international trade. Survey of international
trade. Commodity trades. Flow of manufactured
goods. Multinational companies. Major trading areas
of the world. Preferential trading groups.
3 Economics of port design and layout 21
Influence of cost, construction and safety factors.
Factors determining berth layout. Types of berth. Port
facilities.
4 Cargo-handling equipment 56
Factors determining type of cargo-handling equipment.
Conventional break-bulk handling. Types of general
cargo-handling equipment. Unitized cargo-handling
systems. LASH (lighter aboard ship). Roll-on/roll-off
(Ro/Ro) vessels. Bulk handling systems for raw
materials.
5 Container-handling equipment 77
Palletization - fork lift trucks. Containerization.
Range of container-handling equipment. Container
lifters and movers. Back-up systems. Container cranes.
Stowage within the container.
Vlll Contents
6 Free ports/free trade zones 107
Features of free ports/free trade zones. Advantages of
free ports/free trade zones.
7 Port investment criteria 115
Economics of new and second-hand port equipment.
Methods of finance. Factors determining port
investment criteria.
8 Port traffic control 124
Port operations and communications centre. Port
traffic management. Ship turn-round time in port.
Processing the consignment through the port. Port
operational planning.
9 Port tariffs 146
Theory of port tariffs. Factors influencing the level of
port tariffs. Market pricing. Port tariffs. Customs entry
charges. Miscellaneous charges. Port authority rates
and charges policies.
10 Finance of international trade 163
Export and import prices. Payments on 'open account'.
Bills of exchange. Documentary credits and allied
documents. Transferable credits. Back-to-back credits.
Revolving credits. Red clause credits. Acceptance
credits. Factoring. Bank finance for exports. Less
common forms of trade. Changing methods of
payment.
11 Port management structure and dock labour 177
Size and scope 9f the port authority. Port authority
organization. Dock labour.
12 Budgetary control and marketing 200
Revenue, expenditure and investment budgets.
Marketing. Market analysis. Market structure. Market
share. Market research. Media plan. Computerization.
13 Rple of British and international port and cargo-
handling organizations 228
British Ports Association (BPA ). International
Association of Ports and Harbours (IAPH).
Contents ix
International Cargo Handling Co-ordination
Association (ICHCA). International Labour
Organization (lLO). International Maritime
Organization (IMO). National Association of Port
Employers (NAPE). The future.
Appendix A 241
Further recommended ·textbook reading.
Appendix B 242
Addresses of organizations and institutes engaged in the
fields of seaports and international trade.
Appendix C 246
Major ports of the world and their location.
Appendix D 252
Seaport and international trade terms and abbreviations.
Index 259
Preface
Since the publication of my books Elements of Shipping and more
recently Economics of Shipping Practice and Management, both
selling in over 130 countries, I have received numerous requests
both from home and abroad for a companion volume on seaports.
This book has been written to provide a practical, overall under
standing of the elements of port operation and management of a
competitive,~profitable port authority. It reflects the author's many
years of experience in port and ship management, international
trade and education. It deals in simple language with the role and
function of seaports in a trading pattern, port investment criteria,
port tariffs, free ports and free trade zones, port traffic control,
budgetary control and marketing, port management structure and
dock labour, computerization, cargo-handling equipment, the eco
nomics of port design, the role of port cargo-handling organiza
tions, the economics of international trade, finance of international
trade, and many other aspects of this extensive subject. The import
ance of complete professionalism in all areas of port practice as a
means of providing the viable, high quality service required to
sustain and expand international trade cannot be overemphasized.
This book will help towards establishing that professionalism.
The material assembled here is intended not only for students
preparing for seaport examinations, but also for persons employed
in port authorities. In short, it is an aide-memoire to those engaged
in the industry throughout the world and may be regarded as 'the
porr executive's handbook'.
The book will be useful to students taking seaport, international
trade, cargo-handling and transport examinations under the aegis
of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers, the Institute of Freight
Forwarders, the Institute of Export, the Institute of Transport
Administration, the Institute of Materials Handling, the Institute of
Packaging and the Chartered Institute of Transport. The book will
also assist students or port executives taking a short seaport course.
I am greatly indebted to the various organizations listed in the
acknowledgements for the assistance they have given so enthusiasti-
