Marseilles puts union dispute behind it
THE Port of Marseilles-FOS Authority, having settled its long-standing labour dispute in January, is back in the Far East to woo shipping lines back to its berths.
The port authority, which took part in Hongkong's World Freight '93 exhibition, also will take part in Vietnam Transport '93 exhibition to be held in Hanoi between April 6 and 10.
According to the port newsletter, the world economic situation would remain depressed in spite of the probable recovery in the United States economy and would not help Marseilles' latest ambitions.
''Besides the efforts to increase bulk traffic and to encourage further industrial development, the port aims to regain its best traffic levels for general cargo of 10.6 million tonnes, and for containers at 500,000 20 ft equivalent units (TEUs), beginning by winning back parts of the European market,'' it said.
It added that all of the port's efforts and those of the port community would be concentrated on making sure cargo handling reforms had desired working conditions.
This would be achieved by an aggressive commercial policy with emphasis on client needs, the port said.
The establishment of operators integrated with the terminals in a public-private partnership would be initiated in such a way that a client of the port needed to contact a single, fully authorised intermediary, it said, adding that this approach had been successfully applied in the oil and chemical sectors.
The port also has reorganised its operational management in Marseilles by product and had established a single channel of communication with its clients, it added.
