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航運管理討論版

[分享]貨櫃的生日-4月25日

whyme910
2006-05-18 09:19 #
1956年4月25日美國航商麥寧利用一艘二戰改裝舊油輪「理想4」號在美東紐約港至休斯頓港之間,歷史性第一次裝上五十八個公路專用三十五呎長貨櫃,開辦全球第一條全貨櫃航線,從此揭開了全球海運貨櫃化的新一頁。而麥寧因大膽創新敢於第一個吃「螃蟹」,被後來者尊稱為「貨櫃之父」。 五十年後的今天,麥寧早已過世,但貨櫃運輸模式與概念的歷程卻發生了翻天復地的變化,行業發展不僅人才輩出,當年麥寧的追隨者或倣傚者,現今仍有一部分活躍在當今貨櫃運輸的大舞台上,各領風騷。而貨櫃運輸全系統、制度與配套設施早已發揮得淋漓盡致,令人眼花繚亂。一萬TEU貨櫃船已不是紙上談兵,而是在船廠內建造中,不日面世。在紀念集裝運輸模式誕生半個世紀的今天,傳統航運中心的英國老牌海運傳媒上,有人發表文章,對五十年的變化用一句一針見血的標題來概括它的興盛和矛盾:只有不屈不撓的承運人,始能逃過這場弱肉強食的競爭遊戲。 在回味和沉思中,令人不勝唏噓與感慨。文章從歐洲人的視野和角度出發,審時度勢,來看待集裝運輸模式在海貿中的轉變,是否為亞洲承運人或消費者所認同,是見仁見智,但撰稿人從自己見解出發高度濃縮為兩句話:能夠逃過割喉式營運環境的早期先鋒者,在猶有餘悸和掙扎過程中,都深深地記下了烙印。倖存者都是業內的精英。 倖存者是業內精英 文章焦點放在近十五年的變化,特別強調貨櫃在定期航運的合併、收購和整合,是一大特點,這種趨勢不但愈演愈烈,且有一發不可收拾之勢。在未來的歲月中,還會繼續發生。文章稱,一些老牌的獨立公司在經過一段時間掙扎,逐漸在舞台上消失,其下場不是被收購就是在整合過程中被更強者吃掉,例如美國三大船公司──總統輪船(APL)、海陸運輸(SEALAND)、寧克斯航運,全部被外資收購:英國有百年歷史的老牌企業──鐵行、庫納特船公司亦遭遇同樣命運。能夠在行業內屹立不倒的公司,都離不開有國家背境或財雄勢大的多元化經營色彩的集團在幕後支持。 中遠中海迅速崛起 文章提到一種有趣的現象,認為扮演行業的先鋒者,都不是來自貿易大國或依靠本國蓬勃的進出口貿易來擔當龍頭老大角色,反而是經濟實力較次但海運知識與實踐經驗豐富的兩大巨頭──馬士基(MAERSK)和瑞士地中海航運(MSC)來領軍,兩家公司以船艘和箱位擁有量來說,在全球十大班輪排行榜頭兩名。以實力與地位論英雄,排在前十名的班輪公司首四名,全都是歐洲的公司,除了上述兩家之外,另兩家是法國達飛輪船(CMA CGM)和德國赫伯羅德航運(HAPAG-LLOYD)。 亞洲入五甲之列只有台灣長榮海運(EVERGREEN)。但文章稱,排名榜這種遊戲隨時會變,原因是貿易發展愈來愈蓬勃的中國正在崛起,兩家大型的航運企業──中遠(COSCO)、中海(CHINA SHIPPING)近年大舉進軍航運市場,運力短期迅速提高,其中中遠一萬箱船正在建造中,這為它們敢於攀登高峰打下了堅實的基礎,而通過在本國攬貨市場所佔優勢,相信更上一層樓是指日可待。 日本三大班輪公司──日郵(NYK)、商船三井(OSL)、川崎汽船(K LINE)似乎在排行榜中備受冷落,它們亦在制定自己的中長期發展策略,更熱衷於發展以航運為基礎的全方位海、陸、空立體運輸系統。 貨櫃化運輸模式未來向何處去?文章指出,只要有海貿活動和蓬勃的消費市場,貨櫃化仍然會發揮其強大的生命力,並且在發展過程中再向更高境界演變。即使海運有週期性高低,有實力的貨櫃船公司會承受風浪繼續向前進。 文章又稱,一家貨櫃船公司可以通過併購活動,以期達到壟斷或左右運費結構或市場,是不切實際的。因不同的組織和聯盟都有自己一套營運策略。但有百年歷史的公會組織,在自由開放的市場營商環境之下,將走到自己的盡頭。 縮圖 A container ship can now be loaded in a matter of hours In an era when business is being transformed by largely intangible inventions like the internet, email and mobile communications, there is perhaps no obvious reason to get excited about the fiftieth anniversary of a large metal box. Such containers are now an everyday sight, hauled by trucks, trains and ships all over the world. But without them, it is very unlikely that we would all be buying Japanese TVs, Costa Rican bananas, Chinese underwear or New Zealand lamb. In fact, globalisation would probably not exist and the World Trade Organization would have a lot less to talk about. More time at sea This quiet and gradual logistics revolution began in the US on 26 April 1956, when a crane lifted 58 aluminium containers on to a converted war-surplus oil tanker at a dock in Newark, New Jersey. Transport boss Malcom McLean had watched teams of dock workers unloading goods from trucks and transferring them to ships and came up with a more efficient way of doing things. He refitted two oil tankers and designed truck containers that could be stacked on or below their decks Small shipping containers had been around for many years, but they had just been seen as another item of cargo. McLean's innovation was to see a whole transport systems built around containerised cargo, which could be moved seamlessly between trains, trucks and ships. "Before the container came along a typical ship might spend a week tied up at dock," says Marc Levinson, the author of a new book, The Box, which explores the history of the shipping container and its impact on the global economy. "A typical cargo ship in the 1950s might have 200,000 individual items to be loaded. "It was a hugely labour intensive business and hugely costly. What the container did was get rid of all that." New ports As port operators saw the advantages of containerisation - reduced handling costs, quicker throughput of vessels and lower levels of pilfering of cargos - they started adapting their facilities. The cost comparisons were startling. Loading loose cargo onto an average ship in 1956 cost $5.86 per US ton. Container ports could load vessels for just under 16 cents. Many dock workers went on strike at the threat to their jobs, which, together with their slowness in upgrading their facilities, only helped to push business away from traditional major port cities like New York and London to newer sites like New Jersey and Felixstowe on the UK's east coast. "Felixstowe was just a little town that hadn't had much of a port at all before but it had lots of room for containers," says Mr Levinson. "But it had a container crane, which meant that a lot of port activity that had previously been in London and Liverpool moved to Felixstowe." Key enabler The arrival of containerisation did more than just change where and how ships docked. It helped globalise the world economy. Manufacturers no longer had to crowd near to ports or customers in order to reduce their transport costs. They could source cheaper components or even outsource production overseas as lower transport costs helped extend supply chains. Similarly, developing nations were able to become suppliers to wealthier countries on the other side of the world. "Containerisation is why a person in Northern Europe who wants to eat strawberries on Christmas day can find them in their supermarket," says John Fossey, a director at industry publication Containerisation International. "It has been a key enabler of the rapid industrialisation and globalisation we are seeing in the world today." Indeed, container shipping lines now run so efficiently that it doesn't really matter where you are sourcing products from. If you look at the transport cost per individual item, it costs about $10 to send a tv set from China to the UK, or 10 cents to deliver a bottle of wine from Australia to America. "It costs less to ship a container between China and Felixstowe than it does to then send it on the road to Scotland," says Philip Damas, research director at shipping consultancy Drewry. The rapid growth in world trade has now made ports sexy. Recent months have seen a bidding war for UK-based P&O, the world's third biggest ports operator. Another operator, Associated British Ports, is being courted by a consortium led by investment bank Goldman Sachs. Much of the excitement in the sector is being stirred up by the huge rise in trade into and out of India and China, which will push up overall world trade levels by an estimated 7% this year. Worldwide container traffic grew by 14% in 2004 and about 11% last year, and the infrastructure is beginning to creak under the strain. "If the market continues to grow at this rate it will lead to congestion in marine terminals, shipping lanes and road and rail networks," says Mr Fossey. It is just a shame that Mr McLean isn't around anymore to come up with another brilliant solution. 縮圖 Ideal-X was the world's first container ship 縮圖 Malcom McLean invented container shipping (資料來源:英國BBC新聞網) CONTAINER SHIPPING Number of containers worldwide - 22 million Number of container ships worldwide - 7,936 2005 container traffic - 116 million TEUs Value of container shipping in 2005 - $6.5 trillion TEU= 20-foot equivalent unit, the standard measurement for containers Sources: Drewry, CI Online
cheng
2006-04-27 22:22 #
吃果子,拜樹頭,作為一位貨櫃輪船員,都應該知道貨櫃的創始及由來,歷史告訴我們勇於開創新局,就能留名於歷史.感謝W兄幫我們翻譯這篇文章.
Voyage9261010
2006-04-28 15:07 #
我只記得7-11(7月11日).......
1971
2006-05-18 09:19 #
這翻譯的真不簡單 ~ 厲害厲害!!!