Compressing Time and Constraining Space: The Contradictory Effects of ICT and Containerization on International Shipping Labour

International Review of Social History

Volumn 48, Issue SUPPL. 11, 2003, Pages

  Sampson, Helen ^a   Wu, Bin ^a  

^a CARDIFF UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0344824460     PISSN: 00208590     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/s0020859003001299     Document Type: Review

References (86)

1. Joseph A. Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism, Democracy (New York [etc.], 1942).
2. David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity: An Enquiry into the Origins of Cultural Change (Cambridge, MA [etc], 1990).
3. I b i d.
4. Ibid., p. 240.
5. Benjamin Franklin, "Journal of a Voyage", in Jonathan Raban (ed.), The Oxford Book of the Sea (Oxford, 1992) pp. 92-107, 100.
6. Oiler: interview with Sampson. NB - an oiler is the equivalent rank to an able-bodied seafarer but oilers work in the engine room rather than on deck.
7. The terminal name has been altered to protect anonymity and confidentiality.
8. Hubert Moyse-Bartlett, From Steam to Sail: the Final Development and Passing of the Sailing Ship (London, 1946).
9. Mariam G. Sherar, Shipping Out: A Sociological Study of American Seamen (Cambridge [etc.], 1973).
10. Alfred George Course, The Merchant Navy: A Social History (London, 1963).
11. The first screw-propelled ships came into service in the early 1840s, the largest of these early vessels combining sail and steam being The Great Northern and The Great Britain, launched in 1842 and 1843 respectively. See Stephen Fisher (ed.), Innovation in Shipping and Trade (Exeter, 1989).
12. The first screw-propelled ships came into service in the early 1840s, the largest of these early vessels combining sail and steam being The Great Northern and The Great Britain, launched in 1842 and 1843 respectively. See Stephen Fisher (ed.), Innovation in Shipping and Trade (Exeter, 1989).
13. Tristan Jones, A Steady Trade (London, 1984).
14. Satellite communication was first introduced in the mid-1970s.
15. Shipping line representative: interview with Sampson.
16. Edmund J. Gubbins, The Shipping Industry: The Technology of the Economics of Specialisation (London, 1986).
17. Rotterdam Europort, "Port of Rotterdam: Characteristics of Rotterdam Port", Yearbook of Rotterdam Europort (Rotterdam, 1978).
18. Dick van Lente, "Machines and the Order of the Harbour: The Debate About the Introduction of Grain Unloaders in Rotterdam 1905-1907", International Review of Social History, 43 (1998), pp. 79-109.
19. I b i d.
20. However, containerization of various forms had previously been practised on a small scale in a number of world regions. See De Jong, Is There Any Future in Conventional Cargo Handling?.
21. Jeffrey Martin and Brian J. Thomas, "The Container Terminal Community", Maritime Policy Management, 28 (2001), pp. 279-292.
22. Robert Gardiner and Alistair Couper (eds), The Shipping Revolution: the Modern Merchant Ship (London, 1992).
23. Gubbins, The Shipping Industry
24. The first container-only transatlantic voyage was undertaken by the Sea-Land vessel, Fairland, from the USA to Rotterdam.
25. See Rick Hogben, A Sharp Look-Out: One Hundred Years of Maritime History as Reported by "Fairplay" (London, 1983).
26. Gubbins, The Shipping Industry.
27. David F. Wilson, Dockers: The Impact of Industrial Change (London, 1972).
28. Ibid., pp. 142-143.
29. The strike in the Port of Rotterdam in 1979 led to the diversion of cargoes and shipping lines to Antwerp and some custom never returned. See De Jong, Is There Any Future in Conventional Cargo Handling?.
30. Interestingly, fully automated straddle-carrier operations utilizing automated guided vehicles (AGVs) rather than human straddle-carrier drivers may be unable to increase their numbers of moves per hour to a level that would equate with slightly less automated operations using straddle-carrier drivers.
31. Tetra employee: interview with Sampson.
32. It is not unusual for container shipping lines to establish agreements with competitors on service sharing etc., known as conferences.
33. Bunkering is the term used to refer to taking on fuel stores.
34. Reach-stackers can stack and unstuck boxes up to nine high. Straddle-carriers are driven over boxes and are used to lift them and transport them on to lorries or to or from the waterside. They are highly mobile and move rapidly around the yard.
35. Tetra employee: interview with Sampson.
36. I b i d.
37. I b i d.
38. The control tower overlooks the yard and resembles a small air traffic control tower both internally and externally.
39. Tetra employee: interview with Sampson.
40. Jeffrey G. Covin, "Entrepreneurial vs. Conservative Firms: A Comparison of Strategies and Performance", Journal of Management Studies, 28 (1991), pp. 439-462.
41. Jan Inge Jenssen and Trond Randøy, "Factors that Promote Innovation in Shipping", Maritime Policy & Management, 29 (2002), pp. 119-133.
42. Ernst G. Frankel, "The Economics of Technological Change in Shipping", Maritime Policy & Management, 18 (1991), pp. 43-53.
43. Ibid., p. 44.
44. Van Lente, "Machines and the Order of the Harbour".
45. According to some sources, the ratio of seafarers to gross ton has dropped from three persons per 1,000gt in 1960 to one person per 1,000gt in 1980. See Hercules E. Haralambides, "An Economic Analysis of the Seagoing Labour Market", presented to the Fifth World Conference of Transport in Research, July 1989, and quoted in John Spruyt (ed.), Ship Management (London, 1994).
46. According to some sources, the ratio of seafarers to gross ton has dropped from three persons per 1,000gt in 1960 to one person per 1,000gt in 1980. See Hercules E. Haralambides, "An Economic Analysis of the Seagoing Labour Market", presented to the Fifth World Conference of Transport in Research, July 1989, and quoted in John Spruyt (ed.), Ship Management (London, 1994).
47. Riding crew are usually assigned to a ship in order to perform a particular maintenance or repair task. When the task is completed they are reassigned to a different ship.
48. Officer aboard container vessel: interview with Sampson.
49. Van Lente, "Machines and the Order of the Harbour", p. 80.
50. CETS, Crew Size and Maritime Safety (Washington DC, 1990).
51. A donkeyman was an engine-room petty officer responsible for the maintenance and repair of the donkey boiler and engine which was used in providing power for a number of deckside mechanical pieces of equipment, e.g. winches.
52. Firemen were responsible for feeding the boilers with coal and maintaining the generation of optimum levels of steam.
53. Captain of container vessel: interview with Sampson.
54. Eric W. Sagar, Ships and Memories: Merchant Seafarers in Canada's Age of Steam (Vancouver, 1993).
55. John Gorman-Charlton, quoted in Ocean Voice, 21 (2001).
56. Captain of container vessel: interview with Sampson.
57. Chipping rusting paint prior to repriming/painting is a common task for ratings.
58. Container vessel officer: interview with Sampson.
59. I b i d.
60. I b i d.
61. Sagar, Ships and Memories, p. 44.
62. Captain of container vessel: interview with Sampson.
63. I b i d.
64. This is a fictitious name for an existing port facility.
65. Erol Kahveci, "Fast Turnaround Ships Impact on Seafarers' Lives", Seaways, (March 2000), pp. 8-12.
66. In Rotterdam, evidence is emerging of health problems such as back trouble amongst straddle-carrier drivers. This is believed to result from the "human-unfriendly" design of the carriers.
67. Phil Belcher et al., Women Seafarers: Global Employment Polities and Practices (Cardiff, 2002).
68. Helen Sampson and Michelle Thomas, "Health and Safety at Sea: Social Factors, A Neglected Dimension", Proceedings of International Symposium on Human Factors on Board 2001 (Bremen, forthcoming).
69. Captain of container vessel: interview with Sampson
70. I b i d.
71. I b i d.
72. Tony Lane, "Being on a Ship is Being in Jail", Naftika Chronika, November (1998), pp. 88-89.
73. Helen Sampson, "Transnational Drifters or Hyperspace Dwellers: An Exploration of the Lives of Filipino Seafarers Aboard and Ashore", Ethnic and Racial Studies, 26(2003), pp. 253-277.
74. Sampson and Thomas, "Health and Safety at Sea".
75. Able-bodied seafarer: interview with Kahveci.
76. Able-bodied seafarer: interview with Sampson.
77. Ordinary seaman: interview with Bloor.
78. Bosun: interview with Sampson.
79. Electrician: interview with Sampson.
80. Sheridan Tatsuno, Created in Japan: From Imitators to World-Class Innovators (New York, 1990).
81. Yuzo Yasuda, 40 Years, 20 Million Ideas: The Toyota Suggestion System (Cambridge, MA, 1991).
82. Tetra employee: interview with Sampson.
83. Abridged from Ronald Hope, Voices from the Sea: Poems by Merchant Seamen (London, 1977). p. 58.
84. Harry Braverman, Labour and Monopoly Capital (New York, 1974).
85. Mike Noon and Paul Blyton, The Realities of Work (Basingstoke, 1997).
86. Engineer: interview with Sampson.