经济学人03:暴风雨中的港口 Ports in the storm

 　　Finance and Economics；Building euro-zone competitiveness;Ports in the storm;

　　财经；加强欧元区竞争力之；暴风雨中的港口;

　　Portugal needs to privatise its ports to reap the full benefits of its location. The latest in our series on reforming Europe's economies

　　葡萄牙应将港口私有化以完全发挥其区位优势。欧洲经济改革系列之最新进展

　　Lisbon's harbour mixes pleasure with business. Bars and restaurants sit alongside industrial machinery¹ and colossal² container ships. The combination works: shiny cranes gleam in the sunset as tourists and locals eat and drink at the water's edge. But Portuguese³ ports are a less happy blend of private and public control. The newish government is set to take a fresh look at ports as part of a wider programme of IMF-mandated structural⁴ reforms. What should it do?

　　里斯本（葡萄牙首都）港的商业氛围中不乏欢快。酒吧和餐馆就坐落于工业机械和庞大的集装箱船旁边。这是一种奇妙的搭配：夕阳中，游客和本地人在水畔边吃边喝，起重机则在落日的余晖中闪闪发光。但是葡萄牙由私人经营的和政府掌控的港口搭配在一起，就显得不那么有情调了。新一任政府准备好以新的眼光来看待港口，要将其当做IMF主导的结构性改革更广泛项目的一部分。接下来应该做些什么呢？

　　Passing through seaports⁵ can be expensive, accounting⁶ for a big chunk⁷ of goods' wholesale⁸ costs. Price-sensitive shippers will seek out prime ports, looking for value, speed and reliability⁹. Port efficiency is in turn linked to ownership structure.

　　船只穿越海港的花费占货物批发成本中的很大一部分，代价高昂。对价格敏感的运货商很看重港口的价值，速度以及可靠性，将会物色主要港口。而港口效率与所有权结构则息息相关。

　　In general, private-sector involvement improves things. Typical benefits include shorter queuing times, cheaper container unloading, longer opening hours and higher capacity utilisation. Until 1984, Portugal's ports sat at the state-controlled end of the ownership spectrum¹⁰ (much of the country's aviation infrastructure¹¹ still does). Since then, they have gradually moved to an intermediate public-private “landlord” model. This can work well: the government owns the land and water access, while private firms finance, build and operate tugboats, cranes and warehouses¹².

　　一般而言，私人部门参与进来会起到改善作用。典型的好处包括能缩短排队等候时间，降低集装箱卸货价格，延长港口开放时间以及增加设备使用率。直到1984年，葡萄牙的港口的所有权结构还位于所有权谱1的国有控制一端（这个国家的大多航空基础设施现在依然如此）。后来，这种结构逐渐演化为位于中间位置的公-私‘共同所有'模型。这一结构能够较好地起作用：政府拥有土地和水路，私有公司则负责购买，修建并经营拖船，起重机和仓库。

　　This liberalisation process has made Portuguese ports better—investment has increased capacity and productivity has improved. But further improvements are needed, according to Rui Marquez and Carlos Cruz of the Technical University of Lisbon, if Portugal is to compete effectively for container ship business.

　　这一自由化进程使得葡萄牙港口发展得更好——投资增加了其吞吐容量，生产力也得到了改善。里斯本技术大学的瑞马吉是和卡洛斯克鲁兹认为，如果葡萄牙想要在集装箱船业有效竞争的话，还需要采取更多的改进措施。

　　These ships keep on getting bigger. The bulkiest vessels¹³ can carry 14,000 twenty-foot containers—a cargo¹⁴ that would require a train 85km (53 miles) long if transported by rail. The result is huge economies of scale: the cost per container on an Asia-to-Europe trip has fallen from around $1,000 to below $300, according to one study.

　　这些船变得越来越大。最大的船能够装载14000个两英尺长的集装箱——若用铁路运输同样的货物得需要长85千米（53英里）长的火车。这是巨大的规模经济的结果：据一项研究表明，亚洲至欧洲船运的单位集装箱成本已经从1000美元左右降至300美元以下了。

　　Big ships will stop at only four or five destinations in Europe, raising the stakes for ports trying to win their custom, according to Neil Davidson of Drewry Shipping¹⁵ Consultants¹⁶. To lure¹⁷ them, ports need deeper harbours and bigger cranes to unload the cargo. They also need to offer an attractive onward¹⁸ route to final customers. This can be overland using trucks, or by sea if the port offers connections with lots of smaller ships. For Portugal, this means competing to serve the cities of Seville and Malaga by lorry or train, or acting¹⁹ as a shipping hub by battling with rival ports in Spain and Morocco.

　　德鲁里航运咨询公司的尼尔戴维森认为，大船在欧洲只会选择四五个目的地停靠，这增加了港口努力赢取大船惠顾的不确定性。为了吸引他们，港口需要有更深的港湾和更大的起货设备来卸货。同时港口也要为以此港为终点的顾客提供一套令人心动的前行路线。这可能包括利用卡车走陆路，或者是走海路，但前提是港口能够提供与许多更小船只的连接手段。这对葡萄牙而言意味着他要与西班牙和摩洛哥的对手港口竞争，通过卡车或火车竞相为塞维利亚（西班牙地名）和马拉加（西班牙南部省）提供服务，或者是充当一个海运中心。

　　Portugal should be well-placed to compete. Its coast is right on the enormously busy Asia-Europe shipping route (see map). Its highest-capacity container port—Terminal XXI at the Port of Sines—can handle the biggest ships. It is well within reach of southern Spain, with onward rail and road connections that have been made much better in recent years. But despite improvements between 2009 and 2010, the port is still a minnow by European standards. To make further gains, especially in the ultra price-sensitive transshipment market, Portugal needs to steer²⁰ past two obstructions²¹: powerful service providers and unionised workers.

　　葡萄牙的地理位置应该很利于竞争。其海岸刚好位于特别繁忙的亚欧航海路线上（见地图）。位于锡尼什港的容量最大的集装箱港口码头——21号码头——能够停靠世界上最大的集装箱船。锡尼什港与西班牙南部较为接近，近几年铁路和公路的连接也做得更好了。尽管2009年和2010年有所改善，按照欧洲标准，这个港口仍然微不足道。为了赚取更大的收益，特别是在对价格极端敏感的转船装运市场上，葡萄牙需要摆脱过去的两个障碍：强势的服务供应商和加入工会的工人。

　　Getting private firms to compete at ports is tricky²². Setting up an unloading business requires significant investment—a single crane can cost

1 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

2 colossal   

adj.异常的，庞大的

参考例句：

• There has been a colossal waste of public money.一直存在巨大的公款浪费。
• Some of the tall buildings in that city are colossal.那座城市里的一些高层建筑很庞大。

3 Portuguese   

n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语

参考例句：

• They styled their house in the Portuguese manner.他们仿照葡萄牙的风格设计自己的房子。
• Her family is Portuguese in origin.她的家族是葡萄牙血统。

4 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

5 seaports   

n.海港( seaport的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Airports have joined seaports as ports of entry for the visiting foreigner. 机场和海港一样成为来访的外国人的入境关口。 来自互联网
• Sanya has 16 seaports, 10 islands and 180km of coastline. 三亚有16个港口、10个海岛和180公里的海岸线。 来自互联网

6 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。

7 chunk   

n.厚片，大块，相当大的部分（数量）

参考例句：

• They had to be careful of floating chunks of ice.他们必须当心大块浮冰。
• The company owns a chunk of farmland near Gatwick Airport.该公司拥有盖特威克机场周边的大片农田。

8 wholesale   

n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售

参考例句：

• The retail dealer buys at wholesale and sells at retail.零售商批发购进货物，以零售价卖出。
• Such shoes usually wholesale for much less.这种鞋批发出售通常要便宜得多。

9 reliability   

n.可靠性，确实性

参考例句：

• We mustn't presume too much upon the reliability of such sources.我们不应过分指望这类消息来源的可靠性。
• I can assure you of the reliability of the information.我向你保证这消息可靠。

10 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

11 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

12 warehouses   

仓库，货栈( warehouse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The whisky was taken to bonded warehouses at Port Dundee. 威士忌酒已送到邓迪港的保稅仓库。
• Row upon row of newly built warehouses line the waterfront. 江岸新建的仓库鳞次栉比。

13 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

14 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

15 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

16 consultants   

顾问( consultant的名词复数 )； 高级顾问医生，会诊医生

参考例句：

• a firm of management consultants 管理咨询公司
• There're many consultants in hospital. 医院里有很多会诊医生。

17 lure   

n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引

参考例句：

• Life in big cities is a lure for many country boys.大城市的生活吸引着许多乡下小伙子。
• He couldn't resist the lure of money.他不能抵制金钱的诱惑。

18 onward   

adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先

参考例句：

• The Yellow River surges onward like ten thousand horses galloping.黄河以万马奔腾之势滚滚向前。
• He followed in the steps of forerunners and marched onward.他跟随着先辈的足迹前进。

19 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

20 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

21 obstructions   

n.障碍物( obstruction的名词复数 )；阻碍物；阻碍；阻挠

参考例句：

• The absence of obstructions is of course an idealization. 没有障碍物的情况当然是一种理想化的情况。 来自辞典例句
• These obstructions could take some weeks to clear from these canals. 这些障碍物可能要花几周时间才能从运河中清除掉。 来自辞典例句

22 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。