The use of outside contractors for some port maintenance tasks offers an attractive alternative to port managers seeking to improve their equipment availability and faced with a poorly staffed and equipped workshop and serious shortages of spare parts. The decision to adopt this approach, however, must be carefully evaluated to avoid subsequent problems and to realize the full benefits. Procurement arrangements must be well thought out, financed, cost-controlled and supervised for the results to be successful.
Good management is the key.
This note considers a typical developing country port which owns and operates its facilities. For simplicity, it deals only with port equipment maintenance. Most ports already use some outside contractors for example, major electrical components such as alternators, motors, control units, communications equipment, and often floating craft are serviced, rebuilt or repaired by local outside contractors and usually the system works quite well, provided there is some degree of competition and outside services of acceptable quality are available. Most port managements would benefit enormously by using specialist consultants to help them make the decision, since many ports lack the in-house knowledge and background data to make the right decision. Most ports will attempt to perform most of the PM and corrective work in-house and rely on OMCs for the rest.