TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGES IN LINER SHIPPING: EXAMPLE OF THE CONTAINERIZATION

During recent years many changes have taken place in liner shipping like progress in different types of liner vessels, changes in manning, changes in training and changes in the unitisation of cargo of which the use of containers is now the most important. In 1973 the basic year for the entry into force of the code,the world fleet of general cargo plus container ships was just under 73 million GRT of which 8.1 percent was only

cellular ships.

Today, the figure is 15 percetand is continuing to increase annually. This technological change in the unitisation had well and truly started when the code was passed in 1974 and would become a revolutionary force. It can be seen from this inference that the containerisation has a great impact on liner shippig and from a West African point of view the code is menaced.

a) The impact of containerisation on liner shipping.

The code has little to say about technological change.The only help which the code gives is on how to deal with the technological change which is a limitation to the suggestion that "Effect of the introduction of new technology in the carriage of cargo in particular unitization with consequent reduction of conventional service or loss of direct services,may be the subject of

consultation". As there is no provision in the code about technological change,a spectacular increase of containers has a great effect on the liner trade.

For developed countries, the motivation forces behind the introduction of container ships are that they believe that they would increase their profits, either by lowering costs per ton/mile or by providing a better service which would enable them to attract cargoes from rivals.This makes developing countries which are in difficulties with partly cellulars ships built within the last fifteen years non-competitive in relation to fuller contaier ships. On the basis of the formal typical general cargo ships developing countries could rekon on being able to transport 40 percent of their trade with a fleet of a sufficient number of vessels providing unacceptable frequency of service . Now all that has changed and container ships operated by owners within the conference from developed countries are causing unfavourable impact on the shipping and trade of many developing countries.

Some developing countries particularly in West Africa fear that containers are being forced upon them because the economic benefit it brings to the shipowner is not optimally distributed and as a result an unfairly small part of the gross benefit and an unfairly large part of the gross cost may very well fall on them when

b) The West African point of view on the containerisation

In January 1964 an International seminar on the containerisation of African products was held in Abidjan. At this seminar it was understood that the degree of

containerisation for MEWAC in 1982 was 44 percent in the direction North- South and 71 percent in the direction South-North. For the COWAC Conference the figures were 75 percent and 30 percent respectively. Currently with the seminar, the first of a new class of fourth container ships able to carry 1,600 TU and 300 vechiles entered in the trade between Europe and West Africa(»l).

Containerization is a reality which cannot be ignored in African trade, although the Africans do not own one fully cellular container ship. In the seminar African shippers found that a container load did correspond with their commercial needs in the market. They argued that the containers had to be unpacked to reconstitute the original lots, while the volume of the container exceeded the capacity of small shippers, who were then obliged to ship through agents who could aggregate cargoes, but who exacted a price which shippers felt to be unreasonable .

It is remarquable that the Code seems to be menaced because the capacity of container services is so high that, on many routes, there will be room for only

one operator, which can result in the Code being ignored. Much the same result could be produced even if the

conference continues to function since the Code's cargo-sharing provisions are likely to be

inoperative(«l). The tremendous inroads which a single non-conference operator can make on a trade illustrates the difficulties of handling the request for entry from such an operator under the terms of the Code's criteria. As mentioned before even carrying the 40 percent on one's own Bill of Lading in leased container slots will not serve any of the objectives of the Code.

Due to the possible failure of the Code, other alternatives have to be applied in the shipping policies of the developing countries in West Africa involved in international shipping. These alternatives will be illustrated in the following chapter.

CI-IA.E=*TE:Fi I V

AN ATTEMPT TO RESOLVE SOME PROBLEMS: