![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
walkitoutHaving just read _Outside the Box_, and of course then there was all the joy of the Ever Given being stuck in the canal, plus the drama of De Santis vs. The Cruise Industry, I’ve been paying an unusual amount of attention to Boats, Ports, People and Boxes.
In much the same way that everyone in Hollywood finally started speaking up about the absolute assholes in their midst, towns which are visited by cruise ships have realized they really don’t like cruise ships enough to put up with their bullshit any more, having experienced a year without them.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-26/key-tourist-destinations-rethink-reliance-on-the-cruise-industry
There are several problems, some destination dependent. Water quality is always an issue, and just the sheer volume of people is another. Day visitors don’t spend very much money (vs. people who arrive by plane or whatever and spend one or more nights) in a town, and often hosting the boat requires port upgrades (which cruise ships are notoriously unwilling to contribute to paying for either before OR after) and sewer/water treatment upgrades.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-26/shipping-containers-plunge-overboard-as-supply-race-raises-risks
The rise of online shopping has led to a boom in shipping of everything everywhere. Apparently, sometimes when people fill their boxes, they lie about the weight, which is a problem when those boxes are then loaded near the top of stacks on a ship that then goes through a big storm, rather than around that storm. The through a storm decision has to do with time pressure, trying to get goods to their destination on time / in a timely fashion / as quickly as possible, which honestly, seems a little weird because then they just wait in line at the port for a long time. I feel like some sort of virtual queuing system is needed, but that’s probably because I just came from a theme park.
Also, a core theory underlying the growth of container ships in height and width (they decided to stop making them longer, because they started breaking apart in the aforementioned storms, which is Bad) is that you can run that many more boxes with the same crew. However, that crew, and the port employees and officials (mentioned above, they are overworked with long lines out their harbor and into the surrounding seas) are responsible for making sure every single box is correctly attached to other boxes and so forth in their stacks. So you can see that once again, someone has done a calculation which has erased important elements of cost and risk, and that cost and risk is destroying human lives and the cargo which was supposed to be cheaper to ship as a result of ignoring these costs and risks.
I don’t really have any understanding of the legal system — or lack thereof — which governs shipping. Yes, I am aware that vessel operators and owners choose where to flag to avoid legal requirements. When you are looking at something fraying as badly as this system is fraying, tho, you have to conclude that more governance is needed. I can’t say what, precisely, and so I will go poke around and see what the possibilities are.
I will note that port pushback on abuse from ship owners and operators has been a long time coming. And at this point, the ship owners and operators are in no position to continue to apply pressure. There are far too many boats, and not nearly enough port space on the cargo side, and cruise ships currently cannot operate at all in many lucrative markets. Further, having read _Outside the Box_, I have a new appreciation of the economic fragility of the vessel owners and operators. When you live in a world in which shipyards exist primarily to consume state-subsidized production of steel, you live in a world in which ports can grab a boat, and there isn’t much the owner or operator can do about it, and their financial backers are another state, which is going to create some very real problems.
But this is exactly the situation we were in when we invented bankruptcy law in the United States. Creditors grabbing the cargo carried by bankrupt railroads put the railroad’s creditors in court with the owners of the goods carried by the railroad. The railroad was no longer there to be the punching bag for both sides, and they were forced to squarely deal with each other instead. We’re looking at an entirely new situation here, and it will be one which takes systemic risk much more seriously.
I think it should be clear to any of my regular friends and readers that I am a Big Fan of bankruptcy law existing (slavery and imprisonment for debt being much worse), even when I wish that law were more fair and compassionate. However, the rest of the rate setting regulatory apparatus that also arose in the 19th century around railways was not something that ever made a lot of sense to me. The _labor_ rules associated with railroads had if anything even more problems. Hopefully, whatever happens with boats and ports, people and boxes will be better, but I wouldn’t bet anything at all on that being the case.
In much the same way that everyone in Hollywood finally started speaking up about the absolute assholes in their midst, towns which are visited by cruise ships have realized they really don’t like cruise ships enough to put up with their bullshit any more, having experienced a year without them.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-26/key-tourist-destinations-rethink-reliance-on-the-cruise-industry
There are several problems, some destination dependent. Water quality is always an issue, and just the sheer volume of people is another. Day visitors don’t spend very much money (vs. people who arrive by plane or whatever and spend one or more nights) in a town, and often hosting the boat requires port upgrades (which cruise ships are notoriously unwilling to contribute to paying for either before OR after) and sewer/water treatment upgrades.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-26/shipping-containers-plunge-overboard-as-supply-race-raises-risks
The rise of online shopping has led to a boom in shipping of everything everywhere. Apparently, sometimes when people fill their boxes, they lie about the weight, which is a problem when those boxes are then loaded near the top of stacks on a ship that then goes through a big storm, rather than around that storm. The through a storm decision has to do with time pressure, trying to get goods to their destination on time / in a timely fashion / as quickly as possible, which honestly, seems a little weird because then they just wait in line at the port for a long time. I feel like some sort of virtual queuing system is needed, but that’s probably because I just came from a theme park.
Also, a core theory underlying the growth of container ships in height and width (they decided to stop making them longer, because they started breaking apart in the aforementioned storms, which is Bad) is that you can run that many more boxes with the same crew. However, that crew, and the port employees and officials (mentioned above, they are overworked with long lines out their harbor and into the surrounding seas) are responsible for making sure every single box is correctly attached to other boxes and so forth in their stacks. So you can see that once again, someone has done a calculation which has erased important elements of cost and risk, and that cost and risk is destroying human lives and the cargo which was supposed to be cheaper to ship as a result of ignoring these costs and risks.
I don’t really have any understanding of the legal system — or lack thereof — which governs shipping. Yes, I am aware that vessel operators and owners choose where to flag to avoid legal requirements. When you are looking at something fraying as badly as this system is fraying, tho, you have to conclude that more governance is needed. I can’t say what, precisely, and so I will go poke around and see what the possibilities are.
I will note that port pushback on abuse from ship owners and operators has been a long time coming. And at this point, the ship owners and operators are in no position to continue to apply pressure. There are far too many boats, and not nearly enough port space on the cargo side, and cruise ships currently cannot operate at all in many lucrative markets. Further, having read _Outside the Box_, I have a new appreciation of the economic fragility of the vessel owners and operators. When you live in a world in which shipyards exist primarily to consume state-subsidized production of steel, you live in a world in which ports can grab a boat, and there isn’t much the owner or operator can do about it, and their financial backers are another state, which is going to create some very real problems.
But this is exactly the situation we were in when we invented bankruptcy law in the United States. Creditors grabbing the cargo carried by bankrupt railroads put the railroad’s creditors in court with the owners of the goods carried by the railroad. The railroad was no longer there to be the punching bag for both sides, and they were forced to squarely deal with each other instead. We’re looking at an entirely new situation here, and it will be one which takes systemic risk much more seriously.
I think it should be clear to any of my regular friends and readers that I am a Big Fan of bankruptcy law existing (slavery and imprisonment for debt being much worse), even when I wish that law were more fair and compassionate. However, the rest of the rate setting regulatory apparatus that also arose in the 19th century around railways was not something that ever made a lot of sense to me. The _labor_ rules associated with railroads had if anything even more problems. Hopefully, whatever happens with boats and ports, people and boxes will be better, but I wouldn’t bet anything at all on that being the case.