In an ideal world, Dave, those cranes would be facing the other way; so their jibs lead your view towards the centre and the ship, as Rob mentioned. But I don't suppose you had much choice over that.
Otherwise, it is a dull day and that is what you have faithfully captured. I suppose you could try boosting the highlights very slightly, but I fear you would simply create overexposure in the sky.
Using the auto settings is fine to start with, and under the right conditions this can produce good results. But as you begin to want to become more creative you will probably find yourself using the others like Tv, Av or M more often.