Ocean carriers, ports can overcome woes, says World Shipping Council head Koch

As Christopher L. “Chris” Koch prepares to retire from his roles as president and chief executive officer of the World Shipping Council, he’s confident that global ocean carriers and seaports can work together to meet challenges. Koch should have a pretty good feel for such things, having, before joining WSC in 2000, served as senior vice president and general counsel for Sea-Land Service Inc. and earlier as chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission and in other capacities on Capitol Hill. With offices in Washington and Brussels, WSC is an association of ocean carriers that combine to operate about 90 percent of global liner ship capacity. By August, Koch looks to be settled in with a wine glass in hand in California’s Sonoma Valley, but he recently took the time to share insights with the American Journal of Transportation in an exclusive interview.

You’ve certainly had an illustrious career, including chairing the Federal Maritime Commission from 1990 to 1993 and later the National Maritime Security Advisory Committee from 2004 to 2009. If you had to pick just one career highlight, what would it be and why? I’ve had too much fun to pick one. It kind of depends on the time period. When I was at Sea-Land, OSRA [the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 1998] and the creation of the maritime security program for the U.S.-flag [vessels] were very important accomplishments, and I felt very good about my role of helping those things come about. Since I’ve been here at WSC, I think improvements in security and in vessel air emission regulations have certainly been significant accomplishments. So, it’s really hard for me to pick one. What and/or who has motivated you in your career? My parents, my teachers and my employers. As far as employers, I’ve been pretty lucky, from Warren Magnuson [who served 36 years in the U.S. Senate as a Washington Democrat] to Slade Gordon [who served 18 years in the U.S. Senate as a Washington Republican and whom Koch served as chief of staff] to John McCain [in his 29th year in the U.S. Senate as an Arizona Republican and whom Koch served as chief of staff] to Sea-Land to the World Shipping Council to [earlier] a law firm in Seattle that no longer exists – Bogle & Gates. Each time, they put their trust in me, and I’ve done the best job I can for them in return. It’s been a great motivator. As you retire at the end of July, transitioning to a senior advisory role, what do you see as the most significant issues on the plate of the World Shipping Council? The issues always change, and oftentimes they change in ways that you might not predict. I think the important thing for WSC is to continue to be a constructive partner with governments on the pressing issues of the day. Basically, you have to be a credible, responsive force in solving problems. You can’t be a naysayer. You can’t just oppose what governments are trying to do when they’re addressing legitimate problems. You have to help them get to efficient solutions that will both work for the objective the government is trying to achieve and do it in an efficient, practical way for the industry – to help and be a problem solver. What do you perceive to be the immediate and longer-term impacts of larger containerships and wider-reaching ocean carrier alliances? I think we’re in a sorting-out period on that. There are different views of it, and there’s not going to be one solution to all this. Bigger ships don’t cause more cargo to come to a port. What they do is they bring it in “lumpier” quantities, so the “peaks” are more intense. So, the ships have to be as efficient as possible on cargo stowage and be on schedule, so that they hit the berth windows at the right time and can be unloaded efficiently. The terminals have to look for ways to be more efficient, including the possibility of having more space. And the alliances have to figure out how to be as efficient as possible, too. The smaller the alliance, the easier it probably is for them to work through all their operational issues. The alliances with the bigger membership have to work through how they can be as efficient as a single operator. It’s going to take something from everybody to do this. Solutions certainly can be found, but everybody’s going to have to be involved. So how do you see U.S. ports and global liner shipping companies successfully addressing congestion issues? I think we’re reaching a point where everybody’s doing a better job of focusing on the problems. And there’s more than one problem. In some ports, it’s going to be chassis. In some ports, it’s going to be available land and space. With some alliances, it’s about them getting their operating practices more efficient. I think the good news is that everybody sees what they’ve got as a challenge and what they’ve got to do. And there all going to have to do a better job. You don’t have a choice. Everybody’s got to do it. But there are a lot of smart people in the business. There’s no reason to think that the solutions won’t be found. Why have you chosen California’s Sonoma Valley as your place of retirement? Outside of Yosemite, I think it’s the prettiest place in the world. I’ve always loved it. I was born and raised in the Bay Area. My parents moved up into Sonoma County for the last 30 years of their lives. I just think it’s gorgeous, yet it’s still an hour away from San Francisco and the Bay Area, so I think it’s got the best of everything. The Armstrong Grove Redwoods are right there. The Russian River is right there. The coast is right there. Fresh Dungeness crab and sourdough bread are right there, with a good bottle of Sonoma white wine. Life’s gonna be good.