Asian ports lagging behind Europe

A senior shipping industry figure claims many Asian ports are falling behind their European contemporaries in terms of productivity.

CMA CGM group senior vice president of Asia-Europe lines Nicolas Sartini, who was in Hong Kong recently for the maiden call of the world's largest container ship, CMA CGM Marco Polo, said during the visit some European ports were as much as 50 per cent more efficient at loading and unloading containers than many Asian ports.

Sartini said the ports at Le Havre and Hamburg were capable of 150 container moves an hour, while some Asian ports were capable of just 100, according to a report in the South China Morning Post.

'We have to wake them up,' he said of the Asian ports.