Today was an extremely exciting day for us, as we got the opportunity to visit the port of Limassol! The port was extremely close to the hotel, with it being only a 15-minute bus ride to the port, which was a nice change of pace from the longer bus rides we’ve been taking. Once we arrived at the port, we had to wait around for a bit; however, it was still interesting as we got to see a UN ship that was docked further down the harbor. While this ship would normally look fairly large on its own, it looked tiny as it was dwarfed by a massive cruise ship nearby. After a bit, we were taken into a room where a representative from Dubai Ports World gave a presentation. The presentation was very interesting as he went through the history of the port, how the company operates, what the labor force is like, and how the contract with the government is set up. What was particularly surprising to me is the fact that the port used to be owned by the government; however, it was recently privatized. The Q&A session with the manager was incredibly interesting, and we learned a great deal more about the port as a whole. One part that was of particular interest to me was the way the labor force was set up. DP Worlds had a very lean crew, with them not even having 100 personnel at the port. This was surprising to me as typically ports are quite labor-intensive, but the manager was able to explain that due to automation and planning, they don’t need such a large crew for their operation. The other very surprising part of DPWorld to me was the lack of unionization at their part of the port. I’m used to American ports, which are heavily unionized, to the point that often every single worker is in the union. Instead, at DPWorld, initially many of the workers were in a union; however, at this point, only three of the workers remain in it. This workplace culture difference was extremely surprising to me, as typically I think of Europe as having much stronger unions than the United States. This was also somewhat personal to me, as I’m from the Baltimore area, and much of the middle class exists because of unions.

What was also very interesting to me was the business model of the port. Our presenter was talking about how ports are very much like gas stations in the sense that it’s most profitable for ports to be close together, as they get the overflow from each other. This was extremely surprising to me, as I figured that two ports would just lead to excess capacity. What was also surprising to me was the fact that cruise ships were not very profitable for ports, despite the amount of money that they brought to the areas surrounding the ports. What was interesting about this was also the fact that DPWorld is trying to get a kickback from the government for all the people they are bringing in. Instead, currently, oil and gas storage and unloading make up the majority of DPWorld revenue, which could lead to problems in the future as decarbonization accelerates.

After the DPWorld presentation was finished, we proceeded to the other side of the port to get a bus tour from Eurogate about their operations. Eurogate, unlike DPWorld, focuses on containerships, and as a result, they have a large amount of specialized equipment for unloading ships using standard cargo containers. All of this equipment was fascinating to see, as all the vehicles and cranes were massive and high-tech. The interesting SCM consideration that this brings is that you want everything you ship to fit within standard shipping containers. If what you’re trying to ship does not fit within these containers, it will be massively more expensive to ship and lead to delays. After we were done touring, we got a presentation from Eurogate about their business as a whole. My main takeaway from their presentation was the advantage of privatizing the port. Because of privatization, companies were able to put a lot of money into the port, which has resulted in it running much more efficiently than before. After the Eurogate presentation, we had another presentation by the port authority, where they went over the regulations they have over the port. What was more interesting to me were their plans to build a new green port with the goal of being carbon neutral. Today was a long day, but I truly felt that I left it understanding supply chain management more than before!