IAPH Insider 11, July 2024

This edition covers:

 

This week’s Insider highlight with Patrick Verhoeven

 

 

Tokyo HQ hosts hybrid IAPH Board meeting

IAPH Board members gathered for a hybrid meeting on 9 July, the second such gathering of 2024. IAPH President Jens Meier and board members Gene Seroka (VP for America North), Masaharu Shinohara (VP for Asia, South/West, East & Middle East), Eranda Kotelawala (VP for Asia, South East & Oceania) and Stéphane Raison (VP for Europe) participated in person, during a visit to the IAPH headquarters in Tokyo. Board members Michael Achagwe Luguje (VP for Africa) and Vinicius Patel (VP for America, Central & South) attended remotely. Management provided the Board with a report covering the financial situation and outlook, membership developments, and the key development areas and budget forecast for 2025-27, including strategic priorities, projects and events.

 

 

Kobe venues assessed for World Ports Conference

Representatives from IAPH and the association’s media and events partner Mercator Media visited the Port of Kobe – the host for the 2025 edition of the World Ports Conference. During the fact-finding visit, which took place July 10-11, IAPH managing director Patrick Verhoeven, director (technical committees) Takeshi Suzuki and business development director Nick Blackmore were joined by VP for Asia, South/West, East & Middle East Masaharu Shinohara and by Mercator Media chief executive Andrew Webster. The group visited and assessed several potential venues for the conference and evening receptions. Held in 7-9 October next year, #IAPH2025 will coincide with the association’s 70th Anniversary, and will also mark the 30th anniversary and recovery of the city since the Great Hanshin Earthquake which devastated many parts of Kobe, including the port. It was in Kobe that the first international negotiations were held in 1952 to establish the IAPH.

 

 

Sharing sustainable strategies at Japan Seminar

The 39th IAPH Japan Seminar, hosted by the Japanese Foundation for IAPH, was held at the Bayside Hotel Azur Takeshiba in Tokyo on 9 July. The annual seminar disseminates IAPH activities to an audience of Japanese port professionals across the IAPH membership. Masahiro Inada, director-general of Ports and Harbours Bureau, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) opened the event, after which IAPH president Jens Meier gave a presentation on Port of Hamburg’s complex journey towards becoming a sustainable energy hub. Gene Seroka (VP for America North), spoke extensively about balancing the imperatives of economic growth and climate action goals at the Port of Los Angeles. Stéphane Raison (VP for Europe) spoke about the decarbonisation strategy and energy transition plan of HAROPA PORT. Noritaka Hasegawa, director general of Port of Kobe (Port and Harbor Bureau, City of Kobe) outlined plans to decarbonize Kobe port, while Shigeru Yamamoto, general manager, hydrogen strategy division, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, spoke about the value of liquefied hydrogen as a future fuel. Both Takashi Owaki, president of the Foundation, and of the Japanese Ports & Harbors Association, and Narikuni Nakao, past-president of the Foundation, were in attendance.

 

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Europe-based IAPH team met in Antwerp

The Europe-based IAPH team members met last week in Antwerp, after a very busy first half of the year, to set out priorities for the remainder of 2024 and to look ahead to 2025 and beyond. Among the many issues discussed were the upcoming World Ports Conferences in Hamburg in October 2024 and Kobe, Japan in 2025. With the colleagues based in Antwerp, Brussels, London and Athens, a chance for a face-to-face brainstorm on ideas to better structure the work programme and to add new innovations and content were not missed. Planning on work related to membership outreach, IMO activities, technical committees, projects, reports, and future strategic focus between 2025 and 2027 were all discussed in an open forum between colleagues. It looks like another busy two quarters ahead!

 

 

Save the date: #IAPH2024 cybersecurity webinars

IAPH members are invited to save the date for two special webinars focused on cybersecurity, to be held on September 10 and 11. Titled ‘Preparing for the inevitable – how ports can prepare themselves against cyber-attacks,’ the 90-minute interactive sessions, held to maximise attendance across time zones, will see port cybersecurity experts from the IAPH membership sharing their expertise alongside leading-edge technology providers. At these pre-IAPH2024 webinars, attendees will learn how ports can identify gaps in their defences, ensure that appropriate training is in place and create genuinely effective cybersecurity drills. Cybersecurity will be a major area of focus at the World Ports Conference in October, with scheduled sessions on Port Leadership in Data Collaboration and on Harmonising Port Cybersecurity Standards. In addition, University of Plymouth Cyber-SHIP Lab will deliver special Maritime Cyber Attack Mitigation Workshops on 8 and 9 October. There are limited spaces for these workshops, so attendees are encouraged to register their places soon. The September cybersecurity webinars follow two successful #IAPH2024 webinars held in June focused on the electrification challenges faced by ports, recordings of which can be viewed here and here.

 

#IAPH2024 spotlight: combating illicit trade

With organised criminality on the rise, all ports have to combat illicit trade – the question is how to become less reactive, and more proactive. At the #IAPH2024 World Ports Conference, held 8-10 October in Hamburg, delegates will hear an insightful discussion on combating illicit trade led by Rhona Macdonald, IAPH’s policy and IMO liaison officer. In this session, Rhona will be joined by panellists Chris Trelawny, deputy secretary general of INTERPORTPOLICE, David Zeine, project manager for the World Customs Organization and Niels Vanlaer, harbour master for the Port of Antwerp-Bruges (and chair of the IAPH Risk & Resilience committee) – how are these critical stakeholders putting proactivity into practice? To find out, register to attend the conference here.

 

 

Increased dialogue with Chinese ports in Ningbo

An IAPH delegation headed by managing director Patrick Verhoeven and former IAPH president Santiago Garcia-Milà (Port of Barcelona) met Chinese port executives in late June, at a side event of the ninth edition of the Maritime Silk Road Port Cooperation Forum. The event presented the association’s strategic agenda and was organised in cooperation with Ningbo Zhoushan Port Group, which recently joined IAPH. The event followed recent delegation visits by leading Chinese ports to European IAPH regular members in recent months. As reported in the previous edition of the IAPH Insider, Patrick also took part in the Forum’s High-Level Roundtable, which discussed a joint statement on ‘A More Open Silk Road, More Connected Port and Shipping, and More Prosperous Trade’. You can find more detailed information about IAPH’s Chinese ports membership, including individual port profiles, here.

 

 

Workstream progress on Port Call Optimization

This week IAPH was delighted to attend, in person and online, the tenth anniversary annual meeting of the International Taskforce Port Call Optimization (ITPCO) in Rotterdam. The event brought together more than 85 colleagues from 66 organisations spanning shipping, port authorities, terminal operators, government administrations, standardisation bodies, regulators, market-intelligence experts and development banks, as well as industry associations and the International Maritime Organization. IAPH communications director Victor Shieh attended in person with Data Collaboration Committee chair Pascal Ollivier attending online. Ingrid Boqué Sastre of chainPORT and Port of Hamburg intervened virtually, presenting progress of the workstreams on improving end-to-end supply chain visibility aligning with the work of this taskforce and the other initiatives presented at the workshop.

 

 

Sustainability in Suriname

‘Resilience and Sustainability’ was the theme of the 2024 annual general meeting of the Port Management Association of the Caribbean (PMAC) in late June – IAPH attended on a virtual basis to provide global context to a valuable regional event. The event was held at the Royal Torarica Hotel in Paramaribo, Suriname during June 26-28. IAPH was one of several strategic partners featured in the program and Pascal Ollivier, head of the IAPH Data Collaboration Committee, and founder of Maritime Street, gave a virtual presentation of the organisation’s 2024 workplan on Wednesday 26th June. Pascal also outlined key IAPH deliverables that had emerged since the PMAC AGM of 2023, with a focus on two major publications relevant to the meeting: the IAPH World Customs Organisation Guidelines on Cooperation between Customs and Port Authorities and the IAPH World Bank Group Port Community Systems report. Other sessions at the three-day AGM focused on shipping and port adaptation to climate mandates and on port productivity.

 

 

IAPH represented at Chennai event

Dr Ennarasu Karunesan, IAPH’s regional representative for India made a presentation during the 15th edition of the South East CEO Conclave & Awards (SECC) on 3 July. The event brought together approximately 1,000 senior members from the shipping, cargo, logistics, and export-import trade sectors, including senior officials from the Government of India. The theme of Ennarasu’s presentation was ‘Southern Region Emerging as Transhipment & Technology Hub – Scope & Viability’ and he highlighted the promising development of new ports like Vizhinjam seaport, VOC-Tuticorin Outer Harbour Container Terminal and Vadhavan Port – capable of handling 24,000 TEU mega-ships. He also addressed global supply-chain disruptions since 2020, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the Suez Canal blockage, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Panama drought, and the ongoing Red Sea crisis. During the event Ennarasu was also awarded special recognition for his exceptional scholarship and significant contributions to the maritime field, acknowledging his Doctorate of Philosophy in Maritime.

 

 

Welcome to a new member

IAPH is pleased to announce that Ports Authority Tonga has joined the IAPH as a regular member. Ports Authority Tonga is a public enterprise that manages and operates the ports and all its assets to keep Tonga’s ports safe for shipping, secure for stakeholders and partners, and protect port environments.

 

 

Member Port News

You can find the latest overview of news from IAPH member ports on the dedicated Member Ports News page on our website.

 

World Maritime News

These maritime news stories made the headlines over the past two weeks:

  • Panama Canal increases draught limit and transit slots
  • Ocean carriers unable to cover demand despite huge capacity injection
  • South Korea eyes launch of methanol-fuelled transpacific route in 2027
  • FuelEU will leave no assets stranded, says EU Commission rep
  • Sustainable fuels thought to be more than 15 years away, survey finds
  • Ocean shipping faces sobering reality of long-term diversions around southern Africa
  • LA-LB ports investing $25 million in charging infrastructure for electric trucks
  • HMM digitizes bills of lading with software provider CargoX

For details of each story, please visit the World Maritime News section on our website.

 

Calendar of Events

IAPH events and events where IAPH is represented

  • 22 August – The Global Port Conference – Kristiansand
  • 10 September – IAPH Clean Marine Fuels Working Group – online
  • 23-27 September – IMO Intersessional GHG Working Group (ISWG GHG 17) – London
  • 30 September-4 October – IMO Marine Env. Protection Cttee (MEPC 82) – London
  • 3-5 October – IAPH Clean Marine Fuels Working Group – in person
  • 7 October – IAPH Board and Council meetings – Hamburg
  • 8-10 October – IAPH World Ports Conference – Hamburg
  • 10 October – IAPH Annual General Meeting – Hamburg
  • 23-25 October – GreenPort Congress & Cruise – Le Havre
  • 29-31 October – Ports Australia Biennial Conference – Hobart
  • 5-6 November – SmartPorts – Barcelona
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