英字新聞

albeit 発音注意、アルバイトではなくてオールビートと発音される。=although, even though
albeit belatedly 遅ればせながら

The Yomiuri Shimbun (Aug. 17, 2010)
Give hub ports the tools they need
港の国際競争　上海や釜山が遠くに見える（8月16日付・読売社説）

The government plans to enhance the allure of Japanese ports, which have been increasingly bypassed by gigantic containerships in recent years, so they can recapture cargo currently heading straight for rival ports in neighboring countries, such as Shanghai and Busan, South Korea.
　世界の巨大コンテナ船が素通りしている日本の港の魅力を高め、上海や釜山など周辺国のライバル港に奪われた荷物を取り戻す――。

The Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry will promote a plan to build "international container strategic ports." The plan has designated the Keihin and Hanshin port areas as candidates to become major hubs that will receive priority investment to transform them into two of Asia's five major shipping centers by 2020. Keihin consists of Tokyo, Yokohama and Kawasaski ports, and Hanshin covers Osaka and Kobe ports.
　こんな目標を掲げ、国土交通省が、「国際コンテナ戦略港湾」に京浜港（東京、横浜、川崎）と阪神港（大阪、神戸）の２地域を指定した。重点投資で２０２０年にはアジアで五指に入る物流拠点に育てるという。

Boosting Japanese ports' competitiveness by lowering transport charges and offering around-the-clock service would cheer domestic manufacturers, whose profitability often hinges on shipment costs. It would not be a bad idea to flexibly divert the limited state budget for ports to priority projects.
　低料金や２４時間サービスなどで港の競争力を高めることは、物流コストが収益を左右する日本の製造業にとって大きな恩恵となる。限られた港湾予算にメリハリを付けるのは悪くない。

However, we doubt that reinforcing port facilities alone will increase the freight volume passing through Japanese ports. Rather, the entire operation of Japanese ports, which have been shunned by the international shipping industry as "costly and slow," needs to be overhauled.
　しかし、施設整備を優先するだけで荷物が増えるとは思えない。世界の海運界から「コストが高く、搬出入に時間もかかる」と敬遠されてきた港の運営全般を改革することが重要である。

Japan falling behind

Three decades ago, Kobe, Tokyo and Yokohama stood among the world's top 20 ports in terms of volume of freight containers handled. In 2009, Tokyo was the top Japanese port in this category, but ranked 26th in the world. The world's top five ports were all in Asia--Singapore, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Busan.
　３０年前、世界のコンテナ取扱量の上位２０港には神戸、東京、横浜が名を連ねていたが、０９年は最上位の東京でも２６位だ。トップ５はシンガポール、上海、香港、深セン、釜山とアジア勢が独占した。（深センの「セン」は土ヘンに「川」）

Large containers transporting auto parts and machine products account for a large portion of international shipments.
　自動車部品や機械製品などを運搬する大型のコンテナが、国際物流の主役を担うようになった。

Consequently, ports with piers capable of mooring ultralarge containerships and low entry and usage charges and convenient access to key land routes have become indispensable.
　それに対応して、多数のコンテナを一度に運ぶ超大型船が横付けできる岸壁があり、入港料や施設使用料が安く、陸路との連絡もよい港が不可欠となっている。

Japan lags other Asian countries that have heavily invested in ports boasting such characteristics. Instead, Japan has continued pork-barrel investments in ports across the country to meet local needs, a strategy that has done little to improve the ports' convenience.
　アジア各国がこうした要素を取り込んだ特定港湾に集中投資する間、日本は完全に出遅れた。地方の意向に配慮してばらまき型の港湾投資を続けた結果、使い勝手の悪さが改善されないまま放置されてしまった。

Even Japanese cargo owners are opting for shipping routes from domestic ports to U.S. and European destinations via hub ports in other Asian countries. Transshipment costs at Busan Port, for example, are 40 percent cheaper than those charged by some Japanese ports. It is little wonder that an increasing number of shipping companies sail past Japanese ports.
　今では、日本の荷主でさえ地方港からアジアの巨大港に運び、欧米航路に乗せている。釜山を使えば、積み替えのコストは日本より４割も安くて済むという。これでは日本に寄港しない海運会社が増えるのも無理はない。

No easy task

The so-called strategic port plan calls, albeit belatedly, for integrating and privatizing port terminal corporations to streamline port operations.
　戦略港湾は、遅ればせながら、埠頭(ふとう)公社の統合、民営化などで港の効率運営を目指す方針だ。

But as long as port operations are conducted separately by shipping and cargo handling companies through their vertical administrations, improving the ports' efficiency will be easier said than done.
　だが、港湾作業が船会社や荷役会社ごとの縦割りとなっている現状では、効率化を図ろうとしても容易にはいかない。

In 2004, the infrastructure ministry designated six ports, including Yokohama and Kobe, as "super hub ports." But the plan was half-baked. This time, too, the ministry did not select just one hub port, possibly to avoid upsetting one of the two major urban areas.
　国交省は０４年に「スーパー中枢港湾」として横浜や神戸など６港を指定したが、中途半端な整備に終わった。今回も２大都市圏に配慮し、１地域に絞り込めなかったのが実態だろう。

This latest port reform plan should go the extra step by learning from rival ports.
　今度こそ、ライバル港に学んで大胆に改革すべきだ。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Aug. 16, 2010)
（2010年8月16日01時34分 読売新聞）