THINK RICK SANTORUM'S KIDS WILL WORK ON THE DOCKYARDS?:

U.S. companies weighed anchor on ports years ago (Simon Romero and Heather Timmons, FEBRUARY 24, 2006, NY Times)

In the outcry over who should run America's seaport terminals, one clear trend appears to have been overlooked: U.S. companies began withdrawing decades ago from the unglamorous business of stevedoring, ceding the now-booming industry to enterprises in Asia and the Middle East.

People in the shipping industry have watched with dismay as their fast-evolving business is sometimes misinterpreted in the uproar over the $6.8 billion sale of a venerable British concern, Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation, to Dubai Ports World, a rising operator from the emirate.

It is no accident that U.S. companies are not in the top ranks of global terminal operators, which have ridden the coattails of the explosion in world trade. That shift has transferred growing financial clout to a handful of seafaring centers in Hong Kong, Singapore and now Dubai.

Indeed, the takeover of P&O came down to a battle between two foreign, state-backed companies: Dubai Ports World, owned by Dubai's royal Maktoum family, and PSA, the world's second-largest port operator, which is part of the Singapore government's investment arm.

The acquisition price also reflects the advantage that a number of the fastest-growing companies enjoy - their governments' deep pockets.

Presumably the proposed congressional legislation will call for nationalizing the shipping industry? A good conservative position....

Posted by Orrin Judd at March 9, 2006 1:00 PM