DP World Australia chief executive Paul Scurrah said it would take three years to automate the stevedore's Port Botany terminal, a move being considered as the company opens its first local automated terminal in Brisbane.
"It would be remiss of us not to consider automation more broadly," he told The Australian Financial Review.
"We are in discussions with our board and shareholders about supporting the potential to automate Sydney.
"Automation is definitely here to stay and is something that both us and our competitors are moving towards, so in one way shape or form, it is inevitable."
Scurrah estimated it would take three years to automate DP World Australia's terminal in Port Botany once it received the necessary approvals.
DP World's arch rival, Patrick, has had a tough battle with wharfies over automation plans, forcing the stevedore to take a dispute to the Fair Work Commission. The commission last month rejected the Maritime Union's calls for arbitration and praised Patrick for consulting wharfies after it agreed to reduce the number of proposed job cuts at Port Botany by 17.
Patrick's owner, Asciano, had planned to cut 270 jobs from Port Botany's 511-strong workforce in the automation process.
DP World Australia's Brisbane workforce was also cut in half to 220 jobs after it invested US$233 million in automated cranes that move and stack containers. Negotiations began before he became CEO in December and was done in "a very respectful way" involving consultation with the MUA and no forced redundancies, Scurrah said.
"Both parties came to the table in a very mature fashion, and there was a good result on both sides as a result."
Like Asciano CEO John Mullen, Scurrah says DP World must automate stevedoring operations to increase capacity and efficiency.
Automation will give the Brisbane terminal an annual handling capacity of 900,000 TEUs, up from 550,000 TEUs previously.
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