Maersk Line has appointed Anthony Randell as its new Country Manager for Australia and Papua New Guinea. He spoke to Business Advantage PNG about the next phase of the shipping giant’s involvement in PNG.

Maersk Line’s Anthony Randell

Business Advantage PNG (BAPNG): Maersk has been working the PNG market for two years now. How successful have you been?

Anthony Randell (AR): Maersk has created a strong presence within PNG. We have increased port coverage from four ports to six, with the addition of Rabaul and Kimbe.

We have seen good growth to/from key areas of South East Asia, Europe and North America.  We still have the opportunity to improve within this market, and this will be the focus of the business over the next while.

‘The Lae Port expansion has the potential to improve productivity and efficiency for the industry as a whole’

BAPNG:  Where do you see the PNG opportunities? How important is the new Lae Port?

AR: The Lae Port expansion has the potential to improve productivity and efficiency for the industry as a whole with the introduction of things like fixed berthing windows as well, as the introduction of an international terminal operator which would allow a quantum step forward—rather than just shifting the existing environment to a new facility.

We hope the full potential of the port is eventually realised and the benefits will flow through the supply chain to the cost of goods on the shelf.

BAPNG: How does the relocation of Port Moresby port to Motukea Island affect Maersk and its plans?

AR: The move to Motukea we see as positive so long as the surrounding infrastructure is developed with a parallel time line for the move.

We don’t see the need for rushing this process and would like to ensure the new facility is fully functional and, as with the Lae Port, consideration of an international operator as well as how to achieve maximum productivity gains be part of the relocation plan.

BAPNG: What would regard as your own main goal as Country Manager?

AR: Some of the elements we are focusing on include working with others to improve and simplify processes which often means looking to reduce the amount of manual data re-entry and paperwork being shuffled from office to office.

We also want our standard global systems and processes to apply to the customer service function in PNG, which also includes providing our world class online e-commerce suite of services which we see as a significant benefit to our business in PNG.