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| Panorama. The huge ships are moored to the dock and begins operation of descarga.LA PRESS / David Mesa |
(MartesFinanciero)From child Cesar Gonzalez had a dream to be in charge of a container dock. He studied at the Naval Academy in high school and port management at the University of Panama, and six years working in Panama Ports Company.
With a steady rise he began as a longshoreman, then checked the containers, later a foreman and is now one of the supervisors of the spring 17.
A few days ago was the key person who had responsibility for all the unloading and loading goods in containers Angela post panamax ship, the Panamanian flag.
“My dream is fulfilled, but now can be more. Here each trace the target where you want to, “says this official, 29 years old.
It is one of the “wolves” from sea to populate the docks, climb ships from around the world to release the containers, vessels moored regardless of their size and part of the discharge, transfer to container yard and back to load those containers.
From the outside operation is ordered, but not without its dangers. The truth is that everyone can do his thing.
The operator of the gantry crane, the foreman, the tow truck driver, the planner of the yard cranes and a host of workers, all Panamanians, maintain uninterrupted operation 24 hours a day every day of the year.
“Here the youth crashes, you can not partying, there is much demand for labor and earns well,” says Gonzalez.
A longshoreman, the lowest position in the scale can start with 2.42 dollars an hour, told another worker.
With calculator in hand says you can get considering the $ 600 overtime.
The option of giving arms to the sea service is promising and rising tide. After all, Panama is a regional leader in gantry cranes.
Balboa has 22 gantry cranes installed, followed Manzanillo International Terminal (MIT) in Colon 14 and Colon Container Terminal, also in the Atlantic, with 10.
In numbers of jobs, only Panama Ports with 4 000 890 direct employees and other work at MIT.
Advance Strategy
Demand for new staff should continue to take off thanks to the recovery of world trade, the canal’s expansion progresses and will end in 2014 and the implementation of the national maritime strategy.
Opportunities to develop and implement a national strategy for the logistics center is an old dream of Panama led by the maritime industry, has Rubén Karamañites, general manager of Crowley Latin American Services Inc.
Confirms that the current and new national maritime strategy lays the foundation for the development of a new national logistics strategy and this administration is taking steps to implement it.
“The focus of this work is inter-agency collaboration and private support,” says Karamañites, who was president of the Chamber of Shipping of Panama.
The aim is that the strategy involved beyond the Canal and the ports, all shipping and logistics services in the country.
“We’re taking advantage of the country’s competitiveness, placing the service of an international supply chain generating added value to the business activities taking place across the country,” says Karamañites.
Required to take over the passage of ships through Panamanian territory, stands Lourdes Castillo, general manager of the Ship Supply company.
Your company provides the service of handling and processing of solid waste and gray water from ships, a certified operation worldwide.
“We’re only providing 36 transactions per month, with a volume of 144 cubic meters,” says Castillo.
The obligation of ships to the Panamanian government report on the management of its waste before reaching the country an opportunity to encourage this service.
The decision of the Maritime Authority of Panama arrived at the right time, because Castillo says that we are feeling the crisis that hit the shipping industry in 2009.
Another very different view port for companies that are leaving behind the worst they have experienced in recent years.
Alejandro Kouruklis, CEO of Panama Ports Company, which says very clearly: “2010 has been very positive.” He added that the movement of containers has grown substantially both in Balboa and Cristobal, the two ports which the company operates.
As a sign of recovery the shipping lines have re-used some routes that came to Panama and had disappeared in 2009.
The shipping line Mediterranean Shipping Company, for example, decided to establish new trade routes that play Panama, as a strategy to establish a transshipment center in Balboa and a transshipment center in Cristobal, which are connected by the Panama Railroad.
“We resumed the operations of all our ships were anchored in several bays in the world in 2009,” said Delvalle Willys, CEO of American President Lines (APL), Panamanian subsidiary of NOL (Neptune Orient Lines).
Official figures from the Maritime Authority of Panama also reflect growth of over 36% more in Balboa and Cristobal 100% this year.
The “Panama Route” retains its appeal, despite falling volumes in port in the country during 2009.
For his part, Juan Carlos Croston, vice president of marketing at MIT, says that “the container volume has increased over 2009 and is close to the levels of 2008 (record year for MIT) and ro has behaved similar. “
Croston describes the trend these days as a great uncertainty regarding market economies (especially in developed countries), trade and the resulting movement of merchandise in the coming months.
All this requires to maintain an attitude of caution and be alert to the market.
Labour market
But despite the ups and downs, the dynamics of recruitment has not lost power.
Panama Ports Company has created this year in Columbus more than 500 new direct jobs, they are people of the Atlantic province and plans are to recruit a similar number in the same place in the coming months.
“We offer our staff the highest employment benefits of the port industry as they deserve. They and their high productivity is that we have this surge in the movement of containers, “says Kouruklis.
Manzanillo International stresses that it has been one of the few companies that absorbed the impact of the economic downturn without reducing its workforce.
“Thanks to the flexibility of our employees and business diversification in the terminal, it was possible relocation of resources.
This year, we experienced a small increase in the number of employees due to growing business, “says Croston.
In Columbus is the highest level of unemployment in the country and in part due to the low level of education. Therefore, Manzanillo has opted to investment, through community projects, schools and educational programs in the province of Colon. Also, to enhance human resource development.
Contract personnel will provide a “thorough” job training and ongoing staff training through theoretical lectures, seminars and conferences.
Further, and most importantly, “will require personal initiative, drive and strong desire to overcome,” says Croston.
Panama Ports need more skilled labor, but also has a training center that specializes in port. In the administrative part is needed bilingual staff, and for now there is a shortage in the local market.
Training
Education has always been the Achilles heel of the industry, which complicates especially new hires and not so much the level of those already working in the sector.
Julio De La Lastra, president of the Chamber of Shipping of Panama, said that the sector has good labor force, which has vast experience and expertise in market knowledge and projections.
“The problem we are seeing increased business in the maritime cluster requires manpower,” he explains.
For it is not enough to make plans and open up new careers in universities.
We must make demands on curricula in line with actual business needs.
Universities are making approaches to achieve careers that truly respond to market needs and preparing human resource to compete and excel in the workplace.
“It’s not something that is done in the overnight, but once the link is made, we will have labor responses translated into better services and a professional portfolio that can meet the need,” says the representative of the Chamber .
Positive future
Panama Ports is preparing to meet the increased demand posed by enlargement of the Canal.
In Balboa gantry cranes were purchased new size “super post-Panamax”, with capacity to handle larger ships that can pass through the new set of locks on the waterway.
And in the plans is to order three new cranes of this size to be received during 2011.
Christopher had 360 meters of quay in 2011, and 4 post panamax gantry cranes.
In 2011, plans to begin Phase 2 expansion of Christopher, which includes crane super post panamax gantry equal to those of Balboa.
At MIT he breathes optimism and his spokesman, Juan Carlos Croston, emphasizes that has positioned itself as the main transshipment port in the Caribbean, including containerized cargo and ferries.
“The high interest of companies to establish distribution centers in our country, the growing movement of trade within Latin America and the additional capacity created in the canal will create new dynamics for shipping lines that will likely result in greater opportunities for MIT,” he adds.
Julio De La Lastra stresses that the tendency to use the Panama route will be increased, because it is an effective center of transhipment.
There’s safety performance of their itineraries scales vessels and reduces transaction costs.
“We are preparing to become a logistics service platform also as part of the vision we have as a country,” he notes.