Loading the ship to result in as few container moves as possible during loading and unloading is a real art form. This is organised at the shipping company’s headquarters by engineer Walter Smith. Although Walter is an expert in calculating optimum loading arrangements, the process can still take several days. Once the final loading plan is agreed, boarding engineer Philipp Connor monitors the loading and unloading of each container on his computer screen. On screen, the containers are colour coded by destination: red containers go to Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), green to Barcelona (Spain), yellow to Southampton (England), violet to Rotterdam (the Netherlands), and blue to Hamburg (Germany – where our fleece container is going). Empty containers are coloured grey, but are usually only found on the journey from Europe to Asia. Containers loaded with dangerous substances are highlighted as hazardous, and stowed in a particularly safe area of the ship.
During loading and unloading, the boarding engineer has to keep a close eye on the distribution of weight across the ship. The ship cannot be allowed to list (sit lower in the water on one side than the other). If too many containers are loaded on either the port or starboard side, he must stabilise the ship by filling the ballast tank on the opposite side with water. About 2,000 containers need to be loaded and unloaded in Singapore. The World Star has exactly 20 hours to complete this process. Twenty hours – that’s 1,200 minutes, which works out at just over 30 seconds to move each container. When the World Star leaves Singapore, it is carrying 8,023 containers, arranged in 19 rows. Each row is composed of up to 25 blocks. In these blocks, containers are piled on top of one another from the bottom of the ship up to the 15th or 17th decks. A single block can be up to 40 metres high – as tall as a nine-storey house. Our fleece container is tucked in the middle of the ship: row 15, block 12, fourth storey.
Container Ships
In 2007, there were 3,500 container ships spread across the globe. Yet by 2017, it is predicted that a further 5,000 container ships will have been built and put into use. In 2005, the largest freighters could carry 8,400 TEU containers. By 2006, the Emma Mœrsk, at 387 metres in length, could carry up to 15,200 TEU containers. And in 2011, the same company ordered 10 container ships with a capacity of 18,000 containers to be built.
Until the 1970s, Europe led the way in shipbuilding. But Japan soon took the lead – producing ships both faster and more cost-effectively. By the 1990s, Korea had overtaken Japan. The majority of orders for tankers and container ships went to Korea. These days, it looks like China will soon take the shipbuilding title from the Koreans. European shipbuilding, for example in Germany, is generally more specialised, focusing on feeder ships (smaller cargo ships) and passenger ferries.
28 September 2005
Half an hour behind schedule, the World Star leaves the harbour terminal in Singapore and enters the Strait of Malacca. It is night, and the crew are on high alert. However, they aren’t as afraid as the crew of the Dhaka were. Large freighters like the World Star are much more difficult for pirate crews to attack, as they are as tall as tower blocks and fly through the narrow strait at 24 or 25 knots (about 45 kilometres per hour). Despite its speed and massive scale, the World Star does have one weak spot: the quarterdeck. This open deck at the back of the ship is situated closer to the water than the ship’s side-walls. It’s used to take on supplies at port, but it can also be used by pirates to gain access to the ship.
When a small, unknown ship approaches the rear of the World Star, Captain Neubold sounds the pirate alarm. Eight members of the crew run to the quarterdeck and release the huge water hoses that are used to fight fires on board. If intruders try to get on board, the crew will shoot them with powerful water jets from the hoses into the sea. Perhaps the pirates suspected the crew were prepared for them, or perhaps they were only harmless fishermen racing the freighter for fun? Either way, the World Star is spared.
Every month, five or six pirate attacks are reported in Southeast Asia. If pirates succeed in boarding and taking a 200 to 300 metre ship, they can make a lot of money. Sometimes they tie up the crew and rob the safe. More often than not they kidnap the crew and demand a ransom. Sometimes, they give the ship a different name and unload it at a port where paperwork isn’t high on the customs officers’ list of priorities. A list of ships that have recently gone missing, known as ‘phantom’ ships, is pinned up in the control room of the World Star as a constant reminder of the threat of pirates.
30 September 2005
Eight hours ago, the World Star finally left the Strait of Malacca, and has set a course of west-south-west. The risk of pirate attacks has passed, but now the crew are faced with a new threat: boredom. All they have to do is stay on a direct course for 3,000 kilometres, across the middle of the Indian Ocean. Then they will change course, and head for the Red Sea.
This is a good time to learn more about the World Star. The World Star is owned by a German shipping business, but sails on behalf of a group of Norwegian companies. The group of Norwegian companies are run by an Austrian boss, who is based at their headquarters in Hong Kong. The ship flies the flag of Panama, the captain is German, the on-board engineer is British and the rest of the crew are from the Philippines. The ship was built at the Daewoo shipyard in South Korea, and is currently carrying goods from China, India, Thailand and Bangladesh. It is also carrying Australian goods to be shipped to markets in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Spain, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany and the Baltic region.
Logistics in the Age of Globalisation
Our fleeces and their raw materials will have travelled over 25,000 kilometres before reaching their final market destination of Hamburg. That is a relatively short journey compared to many other products. The individual materials that make up a thermos flask, for example, may travel up to three times around the world before the finished flask reaches its marketplace.
Experts at large companies are constantly asking: how can we break down the production process to make it more cost effective? Where are the cheapest raw materials and manufacturers? Where is the best value workforce? The success or failure of globalised production is all down to the cost of transporting materials around the world. Thanks to container ships, transport costs are so low they have virtually no impact on profits.
How much does it cost to transport a bottle of wine from Australia to Europe? In 2005, it cost €1,000 euros (about £675 pounds) to send a shipping container from Asia to Europe. Nine hundred and ninety-nine crates of wine, each holding six bottles of wine, can fit into a single shipping container. This works out at a shipping cost of €0.16 euros (about £0.10 pounds) per bottle. To send a fleece body warmer from Asia to Europe costs even less, only five or ten euro cents per item. The difference in cost depends on how well the container is packed. If oil does start running out in the next few years, the price of shipping will rise. No one really knows how much longer the individual materials that make up a thermos flask can be sent three times around the world before entering the marketplace.
5 October 2005
The World Star has left Saudi Arabia’s container port in Jeddah two hours late. Although the ship can carry up to 8,400 containers, and left Singapore with 8,023 containers, the number has now dropped to 7,923. One hundred containers have been ‘extinguished’ (removed and not replaced) in Jeddah. If these containters were placed in one long line, they’d cover a distance of 48 kilometres – about the same distance as from Düsseldorf to Cologne (or central London to Gatwick Airport).
Though container ships filled with yellow, blue and red metal boxes seem boring on the outside, the contents of the containers themselves are fascinating. From Australian wines to electrical appliances to tonnes of fabric, the containers can hold absolutely anything. Removal companies are also using shipping containers more and more frequently, for customers who spend their lives having to travel for work from Europe to Asia or vice versa.
The crew can only guess at what goods the World Star is carrying based on the cargo list. From the outside, a
ll 7,923 containers are identical. But what’s going on with container C 53-786-23-894 in the fourth row, fifth level up? A red fluid is leaking out of it and running down the other containers in its block. It looks like it’s bleeding. According to the cargo list, the container is filled with animal furs heading to Spain. It appears the furs have been sent straight from the slaughterhouse without any further processing or preparation. The smell coming from the container is disgusting: they’re really starting to stink.
While the cargo waits quietly, packed into colourful containers, the crew live in the high, white deckhouse at the ship’s stern. Right at the top of Deck A (the top deck) is the bridge and the control room – the brain of the ship. Deck B is the ship’s stomach, where the galley and the canteen are located. Deck C is reserved for communal spaces, such as a TV room and a gym. Decks D through to G are the private rooms of the captain and crew. Below them are the engine rooms, generators that produce the electricity to run the ship, and the ship’s motor, which is as tall as a six-storey house. It provides 93,000 horsepower – that’s the same amount of horse power as produced by 700 people carriers.
This powerful motor allows the ship to run exactly according to schedule. The docking space at each port needs to be booked and paid for in advance, so the World Star must hit specific times and dates. The crew can use the powerful engine to make up lost time at sea, flying across the water at 26 knots (48 kilometres) per hour.
Punctuality is especially important for the next leg of the journey: sailing through the Suez Canal. One hundred and fifty years ago, the canal was dug through the desert that separated the Mediterranean and the Red Seas. It is 195 kilometres long with an average width of 205 metres. These days, large container ships and tankers are so wide that the canal can only be sailed through in one direction at a time. The ships sail in convoy. If a ship misses its spot, it will have to wait for at least two days while ships from the opposite end of the canal make their way through. The World Star has managed to avoid this fate. It has made it across the Red Sea in good time to join the correct convoy.
10 October 2005
The World Star reaches the Spanish port of Algeciras, near Gibraltar. Five hours have been allocated to unload 300 containers. Only ten containers will be loaded back onto the ship. Even if more time was available, none of the crew would disembark here. The captain and his officers have to be there for the loading and unloading of the ship. It would be too expensive to hire a team to work overnight in Spain.
If the rest of the crew did decide to grab a taxi and have a few beers in a local bar, it would burn a big hole in their pockets. The majority of the crew aren’t particularly well paid, and their families back at home receive the majority of their monthly wages of €1,000 to €1,200 euros (about £675 to £810 pounds). It’s worth noting that although the ship’s crew travel the world for a living, they don’t actually get to see much of it. All ports look exactly the same. One of the few upsides of the job is that the shipping company pays for them to fly home to see their families every six months. Twice a year they see their wives, children and parents. The captain and the officers get an even better deal; they get to go home every three months.
12 October 2005
After the World Star has sailed through the Strait of Gibraltar and along the Iberian Peninsula; it crosses the Bay of Biscay and heads towards the English Channel. Suddenly, bad news comes from the galley. Chef Juan has discovered that they only have two meals worth of cabbage left! Cabbage with bacon and pork sausages is the crew’s favourite meal. The captain considers good food and shared meals to be of the utmost importance in order to keep up morale on board and create a positive team atmosphere. After all, the 22 people on board have to work together to keep this steel giant of a ship under control. The journey has been smooth so far, but it has just been announced by the captain that the ship is heading into a severe storm.
In the Bay of Biscay, the heavy autumn storm takes hold. Now the captain has to decide whether the ship should change course or seek shelter in a port. He has been instructed to stay on course during storms of up to gale force 11. In light of this, he holds steady and the steel behemoth heads straight into a fog as thick as pea soup. As the World Star ploughs on through the rough seas, the containers awake as if from a long slumber. A chorus of screeching metal sings out across the ship as the containers sway and roll. Unfortunately, not all of the containers are singing the same tune. Container D 42-523-46-743 doesn’t seem to like the singing of its neighbour M 53-987-12-853. It moves further and further away with each roll of the ship. The storm also increases the risk that the cold storage containers will lose their connection to the ship’s power supply, causing their contents to defrost and be ruined. Every half an hour, the crew patrol the ship to make sure the containers aren’t moving around too much. Finally, after seven long hours, the storm blows itself out and the weather becomes calm. The World Star is undamaged and still sailing according to schedule.
Was there ever any real danger to the ship or crew? Yes, there was. Every storm is dangerous. On average, two cargo ships sink every week due to poor weather conditions. Sometimes monster waves, 20 metres high, engulf them, dragging them under. The World Star passes the English Channel and reaches the North Sea. The captain stands outside and sniffs the air. Yes, it smells like home to him, nowhere else on the ocean is there so much iodine in the air. After crossing the North Sea, they will once again have to pass through a narrow stretch of water. They have to make their way up the River Elbe and hope that there are no traffic jams.
15 October 2005
Slowly but surely, the World Star makes its way up the Elbe. Ships the size of the World Star can only sail the 117 kilometres up the Elbe to the port of Hamburg when the North Sea tide is flowing upriver. The river is too shallow otherwise, and the World Star could easily run aground. Then comes a message the captain had been hoping not to hear: that their pre-booked docking place is occupied. How long will the World Star have to wait before it can dock? Two hours? Five hours? Delays like this are happening more and more frequently. The World Star’s shipping company, and many of the captain’s colleagues, blame the ports for working too slowly.
But the captain knows the truth. The whole system is to blame. Last year, when the World Star started sailing, it was one of the largest container ships in existence, carrying up to 8,400 containers. In reality, the World Star is too big for a port like Hamburg, with its narrow shipping lanes and shallow water. But it’s still expected to dock there. Now, shipping companies are building even larger ships that can carry up to 18,000 containers. The shipping companies believe that with larger ships, they’ll make even more money, as they’ll be able to reduce freight charges and beat the competition. They’ll also, of course, be able to transport more cargo on every journey.
Where will it end? the captain wonders, as he gazes across the river to where a flock of cranes fly away.
7
From Surplus to Talisman: Something Unwanted Becomes a Lucky Charm
18 October 2005
Our off-white container is lifted out of the belly of the World Star by a huge crane, swung over a row of patiently waiting containers, and finally deposited on dry land. After a 12 hour wait in the third largest port in Europe, our cargo from Bangladesh is loaded onto a truck. Before leaving the port, the truck has to pass through customs. Information about the cargo had already been sent on ahead over the Internet, arriving long before the World Star docked at the quayside. The paperwork should list the exact contents of the container.
The customs officials check whether the data supplied is correct, but don’t always do a thorough inspection of the contents of every container, otherwise all world trade would be infinitely delayed. Instead, they use their experience to decide which containers warrant further inspection. The officials use a large, powerful x-ray machine to scan the whole of a container, so they don’t have to open each one up and crawl around inside. The x-ray produces an image on a computer scre
en, showing the outline of individual objects in different colours, depending on the type of material they are made from. Using this tool, the customs officials can work out exactly what is inside the container, and spot smuggled goods, illegal drugs, and sometimes even people that shouldn’t be there!
It is the job of customs officials to make sure that import restrictions are observed. For example, when the World Trade Organisation’s ‘Agreement on Textiles and Clothing’ ended in 2004, China flooded the European market with t-shirts, socks and jumpers. In response, the European Union implemented a strict limit on the quantity of these goods that could be imported from China. This needs to be monitored closely. Furthermore, there is the problem of fake goods. Initially, China was known for producing cheap products, but nowadays these are mostly counterfeit branded goods. Adidas trainers, for example, are copied down to the tiniest detail, which exasperates the official Adidas brand no end. As a result, customs authorities in Europe and America destroy all fake imports they come across.
Everyone for Themselves
The World Trade Organisation’s ‘Agreement on Textiles and Clothing’ was created by the wealthiest industrialised nations in 1974. In order to protect their domestic textile companies from too much foreign competition, fixed limits were set on the imports of clothing from poorer, less industrialised nations, such as Eastern Europe, India and China. (The poorest countries in the world, like Bangladesh, were excluded from this limitation.) The countries affected by the import limits fought against this agreement, and the industrialised nations, whose vehicles and expensive consumer goods are all produced in Asia, eventually gave in, in 1995.
The ‘Agreement on Textiles and Clothing’ expired in 2004, and China promptly flooded the European and American markets with t-shirts, trousers, trainers and other similar items. At the same time, the export of clothing from Bangladesh fell by 25 per cent.
Made on Earth Page 6
