[mpoulin]

(BTW guys, this all reminds me of the Dubai Ports Panic. Didn't you ever add up the numbers? The Dubai interests were going to make less than $100 per "port" per day ~ chump change. I can make that on a hot dog stand at L'Enfant Plaza every day but Sunday.)

Hmmm...makes you wonder. If they weren't doing for the money, then why were they doing it?

[muawiyah]

They were doing it to make sure they could schedule their own ships for unloading first. That way they reduce total round-trip transit time between ports of origin and destination.

In modern shipping, these time differences can be worth millions of dollars.