US Ceded Control of Ports

The Bush administration’s approval for a United Arab Emirates company’s takeover of operations at six US ports ignited furious debate in Washington over the threat to national security. Yet the deal only reflects the global nature of today’s shipping industry: A Scandinavian ship – flying a Panama flag, carrying Chinese cargo and a Filipino crew – can dock at a California port managed by a Singapore company. Public employees staff fewer ports in the US, as foreign businesses manage the world’s largest terminals, shipping companies and ports. Defending the Bush administration, experts insist that a lack of public understanding about the global economy prompted the outburst over the deal. In the fragmented shipping industry, behemoth foreign firms are poised to acquire smaller competitors and compete at the global level. – YaleGlobal