DCN AUGUST Edition 2019

Searoad Mersey II, an important ship for Bass Strait trade
ChameleonsEye; Danielle Shaw; Toll; Dale Crisp; Bass island Line
“What also is pleasing from my perspective with that change is
we now have a 50/50 gender split in the leadership of our business -
so 50% of the highest leaders in our business are female.
“That is just how it transpired but it is a huge plus.”
So is this a concession customer service had drifted?
Mr Donald denies this.
“The previous focus was on customer engagement, we’re just
taking that to another level,” he says.
“We had for a period of time probably haven’t had the right
number of resources in place to manage our customer interfaces at
the levels we would have liked.
“We’ve recently recruited and grown our commercial and
customer management side of the business.”
STATE OUTLOOK
Mr Donald says he is excited about the outlook for Tasmania in
terms of trade, with new infrastructure and irrigation projects
setting up the state for a strong future.
“Ultimately our role is to facilitate trade and act commercially.
The positive outlook for our state is really exciting.”
Tasmania faces unique challenges, not least having most of its
freight task spread across the northern ports of Burnie, Devonport
and Bell Bay, as well as some freight at Hobart Southern Export
Terminal (a joint venture with Qube).
“The multiport system is unique and something that
differentiates us from many other capital city ports around the
country. Because of that we have relatively low asset and labour
utilisation,” Mr Donald explains.
“We have relatively speaking high maintenance and operational
costs because our berth utilisation at our main ports is relatively
low compared with other ports around the country.
“But that actually provides us with an advantage for growth as
well. We have opportunities to fill those gaps essentially for the
benefit of our customers.”
INTERNATIONAL SERVICES
International services have come and gone into Tasmania and there
has long been debate about the viability of international trade that
doesn’t go via Port of Melbourne.
At present MSC runs a service that connects Bell Bay with
Noumea as well as Brisbane and Sydney, but that is about it so far as
international is concerned. But Mr Donald takes a bullish outlook.
“We are absolutely committed to an international container
service,” he says.
thedcn.com.au August 2019 41