NewsBite

Ports

August

Saul Cannon, CEO of Port of Melbourne.

The CEO on the front line of the global shipping crisis

The CEO of one of Australia’s largest ports knows a lot can go wrong before the contents of millions of shipping containers reaches our shelves.

  • Patrick Durkin
Qube’s Patrick stevedoring business handles containers from around the world

Qube’s Moorebank stake on the block

The logistics group said it could sell its stake in its new Moorebank interstate rail terminal after strikes at stevedore DP World helped boost annual net profit.

  • Jenny Wiggins

July

The MV Bahijah is stuck in Fremantle port trying to get a freight load of cows to Israel.

Pirate-fuelled shipping crisis forcing costs sky-high

Weeks-long shipping delays caused by Red Sea attacks and congestion in Asian ports are forcing some Australian importers to get creative.

  • Updated
  • Tom Rabe
Founder of Auto Luxury Australia Billy Taha is experiencing long wait times for imported cars.

Port costs raise inflation fears, leave luxe cars in the slow lane

The Albanese government is facing pressure to do more to lower shipping costs.

  • Tom Rabe, Jenny Wiggins and Joanne Tran
Aurizon wants to haul more goods from South Australia’s ports

Aurizon acquisition could push up cargo prices: ACCC

The company’s attempts to move into stevedoring in South Australia as it expand its bulk freight business could be used to “frustrate” rivals, the regulator said.

  • Jenny Wiggins
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Shipping crises ‘spanner in works’ for inflation fight

Australian consumers and retailers are facing long delays and higher prices for goods from Europe and Asia amid an international shipping crisis that could stoke local inflation.

  • Tom Rabe and Jenny Wiggins
Abu Dhabi has lured Australian stockpickers with high pay and low taxes.

Some of the Gulf’s most influential investors? They’re Australians

The region’s state-owned investment funds that account for more than $US3 trillion ($4.44 trillion) in capital – increasingly deployed into Australian companies.

  • Tom Richardson
About 40 pilot boat operators and vessel traffic service officers at Fremantle have threatened to take industrial action next week.

‘The port would stop’: Fremantle workers threaten to walk off job

Western Australia’s largest container port could grind to a halt next week if a small group of key staff stop work over a pay dispute.

  • Tom Rabe

May

Dalrymple Bay Infrastructure’s C-suite at its 2020 listing.

QIC launches $129m selldown at Dalrymple Bay Infra; MacCap on ticket

The trade was structured as a variable price bookbuild, underwritten by MacCap at the $2.58 a share floor price.

  • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
The building of a port to support the development of a wind farm in Victoria clashed with the protection of Ramsar-listed wetlands.

Offshore wind plan in ‘Labor limbo’ as Port of Hastings stalls

The state opposition claims Victoria’s offshore wind policy is in “disarray” after Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio could not guarantee a key terminal would proceed.

  • Gus McCubbing

April

Containers piled up at DP World’s ports during strikes by wharfies in late 2023 and early 2024

DP World profit tumbles 34pc after wharfie strikes

The stevedores giant’s annual profits have slid following the dispute over new wage agreements and after container volumes fell, the company’s accounts show.

  • Jenny Wiggins
Pacific National is chaired by Catherine Livingstone.

GIP’s Pacific National in management meet-and-greets; eyes on PSP

Sources said Canadian pension funds, including PSP Investments, are in-and-around the sale process, while Middle Eastern funds are also expected to take a look.

  • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport

March

Bridge collapse sends firms scrambling to re-route cargo

Baltimore’s port has become increasingly important to US retailers and manufacturers seeking to diversify their supply networks and bring goods closer to customers.

  • David McHugh, Anne D'Innocenzio and Paul Wiseman
A timelapse of the Baltimore bridge collapse.

Joe Biden addresses questions of foul play in bridge collapse

The US president says there is no reason to believe anything intentional in the ramming of a ship that caused one of America’s biggest ports to be cut off.

  • Matthew Cranston
Anti-Israel protesters at Port Botany on Sunday night.

Union leader charged over pro-Palestinian port protest

The Sydney leader of the maritime union is among 19 pro-Palestinian protestors who were arrested overnight following a rally against an Israeli shipping company.

  • David Marin-Guzman
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A bucket-wheel reclaimer stands next to a pile of coal. The Port of Newcastle has been wanting to diversify into containers but has been stymied.

Port of Newcastle’s container ambitions could cost NSW up to $4.3b

Documents commissioned during the facility’s privatisation, to be published today, show other port owners would be entitled to significant compensation.

  • Samantha Hutchinson
Bhagwan Marine’s contract with Chevron involves the provision of the DP2 Seamaster to perform various services, including continuous safety standby and emergency support operations, fast rescue craft operations, life support supply operations, ad-hoc DP2 supply operations and the like.

MMA Offshore peer starts IPO preparations, hires broker

Even better for prospective investors, the surge in activity has come at the same time as a supply crunch in new vessels.

  • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport

February

The US lacks nationwide standards on governing how port operators should protect against potential attacks online.

US ports get $30b anti-China upgrade in warning to Australia

The Biden administration has acted to protect ports from Chinese cyber threats. Experts say Australia should consider doing the same.

  • Matthew Cranston
The Flying Whales airship could load and unload ships outside a congested port, or where no port exists.

The airship revolution being plotted for rural Australia

A French government-backed airship maker that has set its sights on revolutionising the cargo transport industry is planning to touch down in Ballarat in Victoria.

  • Hans van Leeuwen
The MUA said the deal was “fair and sustainable”.

DP World’s 23pc pay deal ‘will cost consumers’

Prices for imported goods are expected to rise after stevedore DP World ended months of industrial action by agreeing to a 23 per cent pay rise over four years.

  • Updated
  • David Marin-Guzman

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/ports-hur