Developing Marine Container Traffic Along the St. Lawrence Seaway

File image courtesy Port of Duluth

Published Sep 15, 2024 3:43 PM by Harry Valentine

 

 

Early initiatives at developing marine container traffic along the St. Lawrence Seaway were unsuccessful and resulted in the withdrawal of services. Recent changes in international container transportation have re-introduced container shipping to American Great Lakes ports, and a unique approach to customs inspections promises to connect inland American container terminals with nearby Canadian destinations.

Introduction

Early efforts at developing container freight traffic along the St. Lawrence Seaway and extending into the Upper Great Lakes date back to the early days of the international movement of containers. The ongoing development of the container trade has resulted in the construction of larger container ships, and internationally, many ports were redeveloped to berth larger container ships that interconnect with railway and truck transport at container terminals. As a result, many railway lines across North America are operating at or near maximum design capacity.

The combination of increased market demand for railway container transportation with minimal increase in railway infrastructure capacity has increased transportation cost per container along several main railway corridors. That occurrence prompted the redevelopment of the Panama Canal to accommodate the larger vessels that sail from Asian ports to East Coast American ports, at competitive per-container transportation costs. It has also made direct maritime container shipping between European ports and the Port of Cleveland on Lake Erie feasible, using container ships that carry fewer than 700 TEU and operate at competitive transportation rates.

Competitive Mini-Ship

Container ships of 14,000 TEU regularly sail between European ports and Port Newark (part of the Port of New York and New Jersey), where railways connect to large cities located around the Great Lakes. While mega-size ships offer very competitive transatlantic container transportation rates, the railway transportation cost per container per unit of distance is very high. A mini-ship that carries less than five percent of the container capacity of the mega-size ship incurs competitive container transportation rates between European ports and ports located around the Upper Great Lakes.

The precedent at Cleveland prompted officials at the Port of Duluth to serve container ships. There is customer demand from overseas for agricultural dry-bulk produce to be shipped inside containers. Both the agricultural sector across the region and the Port of Duluth have responded to the market call. Plans have been underway to the south of Detroit at Monroe in Michigan, to develop a container terminal along with similar plans near Chicago. Development for increased future container transfer is underway at American Great Lakes ports as well as at the Canadian Port of Johnstown on the St. Lawrence Seaway.

Canadian Great Lakes Ports

The Port of Hamilton on Lake Ontario is the Canadian Great Lakes port with the greatest potential for future market success. While Cleveland’s railway container transfer terminal is located 500 miles from Port Newark, the railway distance from the Port of Montreal container terminal and Hamilton is 400 miles. Due to depth, width and height restrictions along the Lower St. Lawrence River, the largest size of container ship that arrives at Port of Montreal carries around 1/3rd the container capacity of container ships that sail into Port Newark, and at higher transatlantic transportation rates per container.

The absence of customs services at the Port of Hamilton effectively discourages the development of direct seasonal sailing of containers between European ports and Hamilton. However, several major bridges located within close proximity to ports cross over the St. Lawrence Seaway, the eastern end of Lake Erie and the Detroit River. Customs inspection services occur at these bridges. There is also investment in X-ray scanning technology to examine the contents of road trailers and also containers carried on trailers as trucks are slowly driven through designated customs truck and container inspection areas.

International Customs Cooperation

The container terminal at the Port of Monroe, MI is located within close proximity of two bridges and a tunnel along the Detroit River, which connect between Windsor, Canada and Detroit. An abundance of truck traffic crosses daily between Canada and the United States, resulting in the development of customs services capable of inspecting large numbers of trucks pulling trailers and carrying containers. There is scope to connect nearby ports to customs services at several bridges to increase the volume of container traffic from overseas that arrives at Seaway and Great Lakes ports.

Authorities would need to direct traffic when laden container ships arrive at Port of Monroe. As containers are transferred to trucks, drivers would be directed to the closest international bridge for Canadian-destined containers to proceed to Canadian customs. Drivers pulling American-destined containers would need to proceed to American customs at the bridge or tunnel. The same procedure would occur at the Port of Johnstown on the Canadian side of the Upper St. Lawrence River, which is located within very close proximity to the international bridge and includes provision for trucks from the port to arrive at Canadian customs offices.

Port of Buffalo

The Port of Buffalo is a bulk terminal located within close proximity to the Peace Bridge, which connects between Canada and the United States. American customs is located southwest of the end of the bridge. There may be scope to negotiate with the Port of Buffalo to offload containers for transfer to trucks at their dockside. Trucks would carry Canadian-bound containers across the Peace Bridge to Canadian customs, with destinations in the region west of Toronto. Such operations would resolve the problem of the absence of container customs inspections at both the Ports of Hamilton and Toronto.

Ocean Ships on Great Lakes

The opening of container shipping at Port of Duluth has resulting in laden multi-purpose ocean going ships arriving with containers and departing empty to load agricultural dry-bulk at the Port of Thunder Bay. There is potential for ships from overseas to call at multiple inland ports on both inbound and outbound voyages. By the start of the 2025 inland shipping season, container ships arriving from overseas would be able to offload containers at Ports of Johnstown, Cleveland, Monroe and Duluth. Overseas bound container ships would call at the Ports of Windsor and Hamilton to load additional containers.

Conclusions

A multitude of factors enhance future prospects to increase the movement of container traffic across the North Atlantic, between European ports and ports located along the St. Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes. Several future container ports are located close to an international crossing where customs inspection offices operate, with potential to connect the nearby ports and customs offices for inspection of containers arriving from overseas.  

The opinions expressed herein are the author's and not necessarily those of The Maritime Executive.

 

Wasp-Class Casualties Continue With Mechanical Issue on USS Iwo Jima

USS Iwo Jima at Naval Station Norfolk (USN file image)

Published Sep 10, 2024 6:40 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

USS Iwo Jima has joined the growing list of U.S. Navy amphibs that have suffered a serious mechanical casualty over the past year, Military.com has confirmed. 

Last Thursday, ship spotters noticed Iwo Jima limping back into port at Naval Station Norfolk with tug assist. She had been at sea conducting a pre-deployment training cruise when an unspecified mechanical component failed. The damage was not related to the propulsion system or the ship's rudder, a Navy spokesman told the outlet Friday. Iwo Jima appears to have been repaired quickly, as she was photographed departing Norfolk again on September 10. 

Iwo Jima is a Wasp-class big deck amphib, capable of carrying the new F-35B stealth fighter. First-in-class USS Wasp appears to have suffered a mechanical casualty in March at about the same location, and also had to return to Norfolk for repairs. This earlier breakdown may or may not have been an issue with a propulsion shaft; the Navy would not confirm or deny the nature of the casualty. Wasp's deployment may have been delayed for repairs.

Wasp-class amphib USS Boxer has made headlines for repeated breakdowns and delays over the past year. She suffered serious mechanical mishaps in April 2024, May 2023 and November 2022, and was sidelined with various repair projects (including rework of failed repairs) for about two years. She finally deployed with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit in July 2024. 

The Wasp-class amphibs are showing signs of age, and they are among the Navy's last steam-powered vessels. As time goes on and steam-qualified technicians retire, finding skilled personnel who can repair steam plants has become a significant problem for the amphib fleet. The big-deck Wasp-class and America-class vessels are at the core of each Marine Corps amphibious readiness group, and they provide critical air support capacity for expeditionary operations. Marine Corps leadership has been clear about the impact of Navy maintenance issues on the service's ability to deploy, and on the need to budget for a renewed amphib fleet - a source of fiscal tension between the USMC and the Department of the Navy. 

 

Iranian Naval Forces Go Dark

Iranian Chief of Staff Major General Mohammad Bagheri welcomes home Nedaja’s 86th Flotilla - Tasnim News Agency, May 21, 2023 (CC BY 4.0)

Published Sep 13, 2024 3:16 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

 

As befits a nation with pretensions to being a global power, Iran has two navies - whereas most other nations have just the one.

The regular Islamic Republic of Iran Navy (the Nedaja) relies on a fleet of surface ships and submarines mostly procured during the reign of the Shah. It also domestically produces copies of these vessels or of equally old Soviet-era designs. The Nedaja attempts to modernize its fleet by fitting upgraded missiles and electronic systems, but the platforms themselves are old and unreliable, and systems are poorly integrated. In consequence, the Nejada has a perhaps unrivaled record for losing ships: in recent years IRIS Sahand (F74) and IRIS Talayieh both keeled over while in dock, IRIS Deylaman (F78) hit a breakwater in the Caspian Sea and sank, IRIS Kharg (A431) caught fire off Jask and IRIS Konarak (A1403) was severely damaged by a missile fired from IRIS Jamaran (F76). The three Kilo Class submarines have suffered bad corrosion in the warm waters of the Gulf, with two currently out of the water under repair. But the Nedaja remains undaunted, being particularly proud of its eight-month circumnavigation of the globe completed by the 86th Flotilla (IRIS Dena (F75) and the tanker IRIS Makran (K441)) in May 2023. It also retains a potent fleet of small missile boats and submarines for use in coastal waters.

 

Bandar Abbas Naval Base (Google Earth, Jan 11, 2024), with IRIS Makran (K441) docked on the outer harbor jetty

 

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Navy (the Nedsa), has a reputation for deploying small and fast attack craft, using swarm tactics. It has also developed unconventional naval designs (of unproven utility), including twin-hull missile corvettes such as the Shahid Soleimani (FS313-01) and the Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis (PC313-01). It deploys intelligence-gathering ships (the MVs Saviz and Behshad), and two converted Panamax container ships, each capable of launching missiles and drones and able to provide logistic support to Iran’s Resistance of Axis allies abroad. While the Nedsa formerly kept itself to the waters of the Gulf, it is now cruising further afield, with the Shahid Mahdavi (110-3) having recently transited through the Straits of Malacca and the Chagos Archipelago on a 39-day deployment. Another such long-range deployment is believed to be imminent.

The Iranians gave some publicity to the Shahid Mahdavi Diego Garcia cruise, but this was the last such press release from official sources covering a naval deployment. The Nedaja used to announce the despatch of flotillas to the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, and greeted the return of each flotilla via a port call in Salalah after what was normally a 90-day rotation. Since the 97th Flotilla sailed from Bandar Abbas for the Gulf of Aden in February, no further deployments have been advertised. Social media posts covering naval matters have also dried up. Perhaps in response to the presence of two US carrier strike groups in the region, naval movements have now gone dark - suggesting the Iranians no longer want to help out their adversaries by announcing what ships are where. Analysis of satellite imagery of the naval harbor in Bandar Abbas continues however to give interested observers a good idea of what vessels are in the harbor - and which may be out at sea.

Echoing the defensive - perhaps worried - the posture of Iran’s naval forces, both Brigadier Alireza Sabahi Fard, the Iranian Air Defence commander, and Air Force commander Brigadier Hamid Vahedi have recently made atypical statements saying their forces are "ready to repel encroachments."
 

The opinions expressed herein are the author's and not necessarily those of The Maritime Executive.

 

Loose Cable Found During NTSB Dali Investigation Could Cause Blackouts

Details from the NTSB inspections showed a loose cable which in a simulation caused a brief blackout (USSG)

Published Sep 13, 2024 12:01 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

 

Without comment, the NTSB posted a 41-page document summarizing the findings of the Engineering Group formed to inspect the systems aboard the containership Dali which blacked out in March and destroyed Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key bridge. The report lists a few minor issues while also showing a loose cable found in the breaker system when tested in a simulation caused a brief blackout.

The NTSB notes that initial troubleshooting led to the Engineering Group narrowing its focus on the vessel’s electrical switchgear. The tests detailed in the report took place during April in four separate examination sessions. 

The check of the wiring on the transformer and a relay found a “cable was loosely connected,” a condition which representatives from Hyundai informed could create an open circuit and interrupt the 110VDC power on the HV side of the board. According to the report, the engineers said it would trigger an under voltage release trip which would result in a 440V blackout.

After explaining the situation to the NTSB and the other participants, Hyundai conducted a simulation. When the engineers disconnected the cable, all the equipment powered by the Low Voltage (440V) Switchboard blacked out. These included lights throughout the vessel. The report says the system recovered making an automatic transfer and regained power after approximately 10 seconds.

 

Diagram on the position of the cable from NTSB report

 

The other items listed in the report (download link) were judged to be non-consequential. Most of the systems are listed to be operating correctly.

The inspection and testing were conducted by a team of experts including representatives from the vessel’s owners Grace Ocean and operators Synergy Marine. HD Hyundai which built the vessel in 2015 participated in the four examinations in April along with ClassNK as the vessel’s class society and the Maritime & Port Authority of Singapore as the flag state.

No further analysis was provided on the results of the tests and the NTSB declined comment. Its teams are continuing their analysis. They are not expected to release a report until up to a year after the incident.  

The posting of this data came as the Department of Justice had informed the court involved in the claims that it was also conducting investigations aboard the vessel. No further updates have been provided to the court on the status of the inspections, but they were expected to be completed this week.

Tentatively, the Dali was expected to depart Norfolk, Virginia on or about September 17 bound for China. The offloading of containers was completed last month, and the vessel is expected to proceed to a shipyard for repairs.

 

Damaged and Out of Food, Philippine Cutter Returns From Sabina Shoal

Chinese cutter rams BRP Teresa Magbanua, August 31 (PCG)

Published Sep 15, 2024 10:20 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

 

The Philippine Coast Guard has withdrawn the patrol vessel BRP Teresa Magbanua from the lagoon at Sabina Shoal after five months on station, citing the impact of a Chinese blockade and the deteriorating health of several crewmembers on board. 

"While committed to her mission at [Sabina] Shoal, BRP Teresa Magbanua was compelled to return to port due to unfavorable weather conditions, depleted supplies of daily necessities, and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care," said PCG spokesman Jay Tarriela. "This has been further complicated by the structural damage to the vessel resulting from the deliberate ramming by the China Coast Guard on August 31, 2024."

The PCG attempted to resupply the Magbanua in August, but the effort was thwarted by a blockade carried out by more than three dozen Chinese vessels. Without regular supply runs, the stores aboard the cutter began to run low. According to GMA News, the crew had only had rice porridge to eat since late August and had run out of food altogether by September 13. They were also out of fresh water and the crew was beginning to experience dehydration. 

Four crewmembers needed to be hospitalized upon return to port, including two who were removed from the ship on stretchers. They were in stable condition but were placed under medical observation for acute gastroenteritis, gout, electrolyte imbalance and heat exhaustion, according to the PCG.  

The PCG deployed the Magbanua to Sabina Shoal in May after detecting possible signs of small-scale land reclamation on the reef. China has created multiple artificial islands in the Spratly archipelago, using dredging to turn giant coral reefs into sprawling military airfields, harbors and naval stations, and Chinese activity at Sabina Shoal raised concerns in Manila. 

Sabina Shoal is within the Philippine exclusive economic zone, but China claims the area as part of its own sovereign territory, even though the reef is 650 nautical miles from the nearest Chinese shores. The Chinese government protested the presence of BRP Teresa Magbanua within the Philippine EEZ as a violation of Chinese sovereignty, and the China Coast Guard deployed the world's largest cutter to anchor and stand guard within visual range of the Magbanua's crew.

The PCG pledged that they will deploy other vessels to take the Magbanua's place in protecting Sabina Shoal. 

"Rest assured that your Coast Guard will remain calm. We will be professional in pursuing the very clear directive of the president that we should keep what is ours – peacefully," PCG Commandant Adm. Ronnie Gil Gavan said.

 

EU and Turkish Shipping Company in Standoff Over Weapons Inspections

Arkus has repeated rejected EUNAVFOR IRINI requests for inspections of its containerships (Arkas)

Published Sep 12, 2024 4:36 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

 

The EUNAVFOR went public with its concerns regarding a Turkish shipping company as it remains at odds with Arkas Line over requests for vessel inspections. One of the line’s Turkish-registered containerships refused a request from EUNAVFOR IRINI for an inspection on September 8 continuing a standoff between the company and the EU.

Turkey is not a member of the European Union and has repeatedly accused the EUNAVFOR operation of meddling and being intrusive and unnecessary. IRINI was launched in 2020 by the EU to enforce UN Security Council resolutions to stop the shipment of arms into Libya. IRNI reports in the past four years it has contacted more than 1,000 ships and received permission more than 500 times to inspect ships. Ships that are found to be in violation of the resolutions are sent to EU ports. The operation also monitors flights into Libya.

Arkas’ vessel Matilde A (17,000 dwt) departed Gemlik, Turkey bound for Misurata, Libya on September 7. The ship which is 510 feet (155.6 meters) in length has a capacity for approximately 1,200 TEU. According to EUNAVFOR IRINI, they contacted the vessel on September 8 asking for permission to board and conduct an inspection. Turkey they said rejected the request despite the Security Council resolutions.

The Turkish shipping company, which on its website reports it has operated since 1996 and as Arkas since 2010, has a long history of rejecting these requests. Arkas lists an operating fleet of 24 vessels with a combined capacity of 126,500 TEUs providing regular service between ports in the Mediterranean, West Africa, and the Black Sea. Reports from IRINI indicate Arkas denied six requests in 2021, three in 2022, two in 2023, and now one in 2024.

The lack of cooperation with the EU and UN Security Council resolutions comes as Arkas posts a message on its website saying it is “excited” to announce as of 2023 it joined the UN Global Compact. They point out it is “a voluntary platform for the development, implementation, and disclosure of responsible business practices.”

Turkey has been at odds with the EU and UN over Libya where it maintains a military presence which it argues is “legitimate” and should not be viewed as a foreign force. The reports say they are there to support stability in Libya.

Recently, Turkey signed a new alliance with the Libyan government to provide additional training, weapons, and attack drones, which would violate the Security Council resolutions. Turkey reports it has also provided a more modern air defense system and other capabilities to Libya.

The Matilde A continued its voyage. The vessel arrived in Libya on September 11.

Italian army will guard a hospital after attacks on medical workers

Italy’s army is set to begin guarding medical staff in Calabria starting Monday

ByGIADA ZAMPANO 

Associated Press
September 15, 2024




ROME -- Italy's army will guard medical staff at a hospital in the southern Calabria region starting Monday, after a string of violent attacks on doctors and nurses by enraged patients and relatives across Italy, local media reported.

Prefect Paolo Giovanni Grieco approved a plan to reinforce the surveillance services already operated by soldiers on sensitive targets in the Calabrian town of Vibo Valentia, including the hospital, the reports said.

Recent attacks on health care workers have been particularly frequent in southern Italy, prompting the doctors’ national guild to request that the army be deployed to ensure medical staff safety.

The turning point was an assault at the Policlinico hospital in the southern city of Foggia in early September. A group of about 50 relatives and friends of a 23-year-old woman — who died during emergency surgery — turned their grief and rage into violence, attacking the hospital staff.

Video footage, widely circulated on social media, showed doctors and nurses barricading in a room to escape the attack. Some of them were punched and injured. The director of the hospital threatened to close its emergency room after denouncing three similar attacks in less than a week.

With over 16,000 reported cases of physical and verbal assaults nationwide in 2023 alone, Italian doctors and nurses have called for drastic measures.

“We have never seen such levels of aggression in the past decade,” said Antonio De Palma, president of the Nursing Up union, stressing the urgent need for action.

“We are now at a point where considering military protection in hospitals is no longer a far-fetched idea. We cannot wait any longer,” he said.

The Italian Federation of Medical-Scientific Societies has also proposed more severe measures for offenders, such as suspending access to free medical care for three years for anyone who assaults healthcare workers or damages hospital facilities.

Understaffing and long waiting lists are the main reasons behind patients' frustration with health workers.

According to Italy’s largest union for doctors, nearly half of emergency medicine positions remained unfilled as of 2022. Doctors lament that Italy’s legislation has kept wages low, leading to overworked and burned out staff at hospitals.

These problems have been further aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has pushed many health workers to leave Italy in search of better opportunities abroad.

In 2023, Italy was short of about 30,000 doctors, and between 2010 and 2020, the country saw the closure of 111 hospitals and 113 emergency rooms, data from a specialized forum showed.

6.5-magnitude earthquake hits off the northern coast of British Columbia


By Associated Press11:48am Sep 15, 2024

A 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck off the northern Pacific Coast of the Canadian province of British Columbia yesterday afternoon, according to the US Geological Survey.

The USGS said the quake was located off the tip of Haida Gwaii, an archipelago located about 1720 kilometres north of Vancouver.

It occurred at a depth of 33 kilometres beneath the surface.

A 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck off the northern Pacific Coast of the Canadian province of British Columbia. (Nine)

The US Tsunami Warning Centre reported that there was no threat of a tsunami from this earthquake.

There were no immediate reports of major damage.

Deal with pilots averts strike at Air Canada


By AFP
September 15, 2024

Flagship carrier Air Canada said Sunday it has reached a last-minute tentative deal with its pilots, averting a crippling strike that would have grounded flights and risked devastating the economy.

The agreement was announced just minutes after a key overnight deadline lapsed that would have seen hundreds of flights started to be cancelled over the coming days.

“Air Canada has reached a tentative, four-year collective agreement with the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), representing more than 5,200 pilots at Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge,” the airline said in a statement.

The two sides had been in talks for 15 months.

This past week, groups representing more than 200,000 businesses across Canada urged the government to intervene, but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau refused, while impressing on both sides that “millions of Canadians (were) counting on everyone to get this resolved.”

Both sides would have been in a position at midnight Sunday (0400 GMT) to issue a 72-hour notice of a worker strike or lockout by the airline, which was expected to trigger a phased shutdown of Air Canada’s operations and a full stoppage as early as Wednesday.

Air Canada said the new agreement “recognizes the contributions and professionalism” of its pilots, but did not provide any details on the terms, pending its ratification by union members.

The union, which had been pushing for a significant wage bump to close a pay gap with the pilots’ American counterparts, said the deal provides “an additional Can$1.9 billion ($1.4 billion) of value for Air Canada pilots over the course of the agreement.”

Also, “progress was made on several key issues including compensation, retirement, and work rule,” it said.

Air Canada flies to 47 countries and carries an average of 110,000 passengers a day on its 670 flights.

Outsourcing matters

Parvez Rahim 

Published September 14, 2024 

AN entrepreneur investing in establishing a manufacturing unit or setting up a business will aspire to get maximum returns in terms of profit from his initiative. Depending upon the magnitude of investment, he will have no control over the cost of plant equipment and raw materials, which will depend upon market rates.

However, he will make every effort to keep his administrative or fixed costs as low as possible. This includes the payment of monthly salary and benefits to employees. Here, he would explore all options to curtail the cost without compromising on the quality of his product or business interests.

He will decide about the areas where people with higher education will be required and those who will provide support services. In the former case, he will try to get the best people available and offer them an attractive salary and benefits. He may outsource the support services at competitive rates. This practice is prevalent the world over.

In Pakistan, the practice of engaging third-party contractors has been common since the inception of industry. The motive has been to cut costs and increase efficiency. Initially, there was a huge difference in cost for the same work done by the company’s own employees or those of contractors. The salary and benefits of own employees of lower cadres keep increasing due to the collective labour agreements reached with the union.

The contractors would not ensure compliance with the laws and make their workers available to interested employers at a low cost. This difference in cost has narrowed down over the years as now progressive employers force contractors to ensure compliance with all laws, especially relating to the welfar

Progressive employers force contractors to ensure compliance with all laws.

In addition to contracting out of services to a service provider, there are two other types of outsourcing carried out by companies: toll manufacturing and offshoring.

Toll manufacturing or tolling is outsourcing all the production or part of it to a third-party where the principal company provides all the raw materials or semi-finished products to the former. The work of the third-party company is to process the products or raw materials to the required specification.

Offshoring is a practice of relocating business processes or work functions to another country to save on costs and increase efficiency. A company may choose to outsource certain tasks or entire processes to low-cost countries, where labour may be cheaper or more skilled.

To facilitate its booming industry to compete in the international market, India promulgated the Contract Labour (Regulation) Act, 1970. Under this Act, the contractors must get themselves registered with the government. Besides, they must also ensure compliance with the labour statutes to secure the welfare and health of workers and avoid legal issues.

In Pakistan, half-hearted attempts were made in the 1990s to introduce a similar law, but the effort did not materialise. However, in the beginning of the current century, the federal government and Punjab and Sindh, respectively, have promulgated ordinances regulating the outsourcing of security services by security companies.

These ordinances require the security companies to get themselves registered with the government. Unfortunately, there are no provisions in the three ordinances guaranteeing the payment of minimum wages to the security guards and compliance with laws on daily working hours and the weekly rest days. As a result, most of the companies to whom their services are let out violate the laws to the detriment of security guards.

The Punjab Priv­a­­te Security Com­p­a­nies (Regulation and Control) Ordinance, 2002, is the only statute which provides for the group life insurance of guards for a paltry amount of Rs200,000 and mandatory registration with the social security institution. The responsibility to ensure compliance with the laws rests both with the service providers as well as the companies to whom those services are provided.

Besides, the core jobs in which workers employed through contractors work under the direct supervision and control of the principal employer and along with the latter’s own workers, cannot be outsourced. In this context, there are two landmark judgments of the Supreme Court dated May 16, 2013, and Dec 8, 2017, respectively.

In 2013, the management of Fauji Fertiliser plant at Mirpur Mathelo was directed by then chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry to regularise the services of 112 workers. In 2017, the management of Pakistan State Oil had to regularise the services of 210 workers on the direction of then chief justice Saqib Nisar, at its head office in Karachi.

The writer is a consultant in human resources at the Aga Khan University Hospital and Vital Pakistan Trust.

Published in Dawn, September 14th, 2024