Member Info for Vander

I would presume that a scanner takes weeks/ months to deliver, install, set up and make operational with trained image analysts? Ie this is par for the course. It was odd that smiths announced scanner delivery only one week prior to deport opening date- under pressure to meet publicised timelines

Can anyone more knowledgeable comment?

Vincent Bolloré is still ceo of Bolloré. His son took over at vivendi ( different company)

He still faces the risk of 10 years imprisonment and a 1 m dollar fine

The corruption file is ongoing. Bolloré and APM Terminals handle 75% of the port containers in west Africa. They have made big improvements in port infrastructure and efficiency. The problem is increased costs. The automation agenda is necessary but is associated with job losses. Bolloré’s dominance posits claims of monopoly and need for competition, and accusations of corruption. The investigation will bring scrutiny to Ghana 2015 deal. There was no competitive tender, and costs were overestimated in MPs favour. Also tax waivers amounting to 832m by March 2016

If the deal finances are renegotiated there will be less money to compensate nick or pay wsg

If corruption is uncovered negotiation become less predictable. Mahama was in charge 2012 to 2017. MPS were in place from 2004- is that correct?

Vincent Bolloré was arrested in April 2018 in relation to a formal corruption investigation by French authorities regarding the award of two west African port contracts

It has relevance to the current MPS government negotiations
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.france24.com/en/20180425-french-tycoon-vincent-bollore-indicted-over-suspected-africa-corruption

DHC: the aim is to encourage people to consciously think about this as an investment and understand the risk

This is irrelevant to traders

Repeated posts of what the container volume, revenue and SP will be post successful contract completion may lull naive investors and even LTH into mistakes. There are usually well defined winners and losers here

Regarding size: it’s important that the scan operator has good knowledge of the machines and links with the manufacturer to ensure maintenance. At least smiths are uk based
A good track record of excellent performance helps
(Wsg have SL to refer to, but no previous port contracts)
Quality will depend on satisfactory recruitment and training of staff- scanport are responsible for line management- wsg will provide ongoing training and audit/ monitoring. They need good relations with customs and other security contractors in particular (to maintain the isps rating)

How many staff need training- SGS trained 120 officers in 7 month for 1 m teu Douala with automated scans introduced in 2016. They report more than 1000 trained image analysts worldwide, but are a company with 90k employees. The scan fees in Douala were said to be too high
Scanport/WSG are capacity building but still early stages

There will be various KPIs but the important ones will only become evident with time

Are MPS willing to change track and employ a small operator without port experience, on large money

I do not know

Yep Jimzi I agree with that. Hence the general consensus in west African ports to scan all (or most) containers. Automated rather time consuming manual inspections.

Bolloré/ APM also known as DIT, operated doula from 2004 but have not been short listed for the dev 2019 tender

Read up on Abidjan and Liberia- also interesting

Btw nick danso adjei runs nick tc scan (contract to 2025) , Ghana link network services (contract to 2028) and other companies

Bolloré are partners with APM in Douala also. GPHA have a conflict of interest- the have their existing port businesses which are in danger of collapsing and also the need to represent the government who wish to promote foreign investment but also ensure the country gets a good deal

Wsg have boots on the ground. Have commenced operation of the smith scanners, and are providing expertise in system processes inc image analysis. They will have work closely with other port providers inc nick danso Adjei who is running UNIPASS for the customs officers, The problem is they are doing it for free. A larger company may want to takeover once the uncertainty/risk associated with government negotiations is over.

SGS and bureau Veritas unfortunately insist on Being paid for work. They are really annoying!

I am trying to understand why Bolloré might have chosen wsg. Also why there is a delay and whether it will proceed or fall through

Most people here simply want to quote meaningless prices at each other and then get angry if they do not agree

At least Gibbo had a go at trying to explain/ justify the delay but he was poorly convincing.

Of course none of us know the answer and the SP is drifting

An interesting evenings exchange

Onto more boring stuff

Bolloré operate in 17 ports in Africa

In Douala port (Cameroon, 1m teu pa) the Bolloré/APM Terminals partnership uses the multi billion cap Swiss company SGS, to provide scanning- operations and maintenance

In cote d’ivore and Liberia they use the French multi billion cap company bureau Veritas

Why do people think that they have turned to smaller companies such as WSG in partnership with wing commander boateng (or in fact the similarly sized nick tc-scan) ??

This is a uk/EU priority that has been ongoing for at least the past 3 years.

It is an interesting idea that WSG and Fowler will be the saviour but there are probably better resourced and technologically innovative companies out there

Apologies lag = uk lab
Also enough monodispersity to achieve consistent efficacy. This is a major challenge for therapeutic snps which are also a new class of inorganic nanoparticle- it may or may not be achievable

A big problem is that N4p lack infrastructure and permanent scientific expertise. They rely on rented labs and consultants. It was for this reason they started two trials without understanding how to handle and prepare their only product

The rns has replicated previous positive results- this is positive- but there will be no larger commercial partner to guide them this year, or add funds. Also they need to replicate in a new lag in the uk. Also they have confirmed part of the reason for negative results is a manufacturing issue- difficulty ensuring monodispersity/ homogeneity enough to give consistent. They may succeed but it is long road. Competitor nanoparticles are putting millions into this and have high resources in comparison

This good for ship tracking
https://www.myshiptracking.com/ports/port-of-tema-in-gh-ghana-id-417

To ramp it, as implied, suggests he is clever and devious. My impression he is more pompous and insightless. A bit like Captain Mannering (Dads Army)

Either way if he gets the timings wrong he can say the the LTH need to show a bit of patience!

Aiming- a further point is that the port in general (not just wsg) is operating a 14.6 percent capacity. They are undergoing trials of readiness and all operators are sorting teething problems. A prominent one mentioned in the press has been difficulty tracking goods through the port electronically

Also is they ramp up too quickly there is concern that the pre existing port operators inc gpha will collapse. See latest demonstrations
https://allghananews.com/young-unionists-protest-against-mps-deal/

I doubt they will but more scanners- the previous four cost 25m

The above brings us no closer to knowing whether the scanport/wsg ‘try before you buy’ trial Will be successful. It depends on the performance of each on the ground and in the boardroom. Also determined by wider negotiations/ legal judgements over which wsg are powerless

Aiming- the have procured four Smiths HCVPZ60 scanning portals- one for each berth-can manage 100 lorries per hour

With four berths that’s 9600 TEU per day or 3.5m per year, with 24 h staffing (4people required for primary scanning)

With two berths max capacity 4800.
The current is 700 (14.6 percent)

The fulminant tone of the two proactive interviews has moved in something more measured- ‘coming weeks’. More than one contract may mean negotiation with both MPS and scanport ltd

The full disclosure and detail of the AGM has slipped. Back to only ‘need to know’ information- deacon security 3

There are two scanning contracts one with dept of trade and industry (with MPS) and one with dept of transport (with nick). Apologies if this is the other way round. The latter expires in 2025. This is part of of the negotiations between MPS and GPHA. Other issues are intended hike in port tariffs which MPS claim is essential to cash flow to pay 3rd party contractors. Also the exclusivity of MPS to deal with the larger container ships- and no longer other port contractors inc GPHA