IAPH Insider – 4 March 2021

 

This edition of IAPH Insider covers:

 

 

Capt Subramaniam IAPH President-elect for 2021-2023

IAPH regular and honorary members voted last month to elect Karuppiah Subramaniam, General Manager of Port Klang Authority, as the President of IAPH for a two-year mandate, commencing in June this year. Capt Subramaniam has been Vice-President for the South-East Asia and Oceania region since 2017. He will succeed Santiago Garcia Milà, Deputy Director General at the Port of Barcelona, who has been at the helm of the organisation since 2015. The official transition will take place during the 2021 World Ports Conference. At the Annual General Meeting, exceptionally held by correspondence this year, regular and honorary members will first have to endorse the process and outcome of the election by e-mail vote.

 

 

 

 

Registration for 2021 World Ports Conference is open

We are delighted to announce that registration has opened for the IAPH 2021 World Ports Conference, together with a very special member’s offer for early bird bookings. #IAPH2021 will take place 21-25 June through a world-class virtual event which will give attendees access to live and on-demand expert content, networking connections and sponsor showcases. We also aspire to hold a live component in Antwerp. The conference is held in collaboration with Port of Antwerp and our media end events partner IHS Markit. If you or one of your colleagues registers now at the conference, your organization will gain access to the special early bird rate of 295 EUR per delegate until 31 March, a saving of 100 EUR on any IAPH member who registers before 1 April. We already have a roster of senior figures in the port and shipping industry confirmed as keynote speakers, including Sabrina Chao, President-elect, BIMCO and Chair, Wah Kwong Maritime Transport Holdings, Tan Chong Meng, Group CEO, PSA International, Kelly Craighead, President & CEO, Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), John Darwin, Senior Research Fellow, Nuffield College, University of Oxford, author of ‘Unlocking the World’, Kitack Lim, Secretary General, International Maritime Organization (IMO), Kunio Mikuriya, Secretary General, World Customs Organisation (WCO) and Daniel Yergin, Vice Chairman, IHS Markit, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of ‘The New Map’. The theme of this year’s conference – ‘Changing of the Guard’ – will explore how the port landscape is transforming and featuring the influential players who are shaping the new, complex environment in which ports operate. We will have individual streams with live and on-demand content from the world port and maritime industry’s leading experts on Business Innovation, Climate and Energy, Data Collaboration and Risk and Resilience. We will also have a special stream on The Century of Africa. This year’s World Ports Conference will give you direct networking access to meet fellow IAPH port and associate members in a virtual environment, as well as attending the IAPH committee meetings together with the 2021 World Ports Sustainability Awards. Last week, all IAPH members received information how to register as a member and benefit from the special early bird rate. If you did not, then contact the Events Help Desk to verify your membership and receive your promo code to apply to your registration.

 

 

 

 

Does diversity stimulate innovation? Find out 18 March

The maritime sector, with ports at the top of the list, have been dominated by publicly-appointed, senior, monochrome male managers since their foundation. However, with more imaginative senior appointments seen more recently at some port authorities, are we witnessing the beginning of a sea change in port management diversity? How can an injection of diverse, new blood into both senior and middle management at ports propel innovation? These questions will be the focus of our next World Ports Conference webinar, to be held on 18 March at 3 PM CET.  Panellists include Despina Panayiotou Theodosiou (President WISTA International and CEO Tototheo Maritime), Flor Pitty (Chair IAPH Women’s Forum and Director-General Ports and Ancillary Services Panama Maritime Authority) and Taha Riani (Managing Partner Allyens). They will discuss how port and maritime organisations can obtain the most from policies that embrace diversity and inclusiveness. The discussion will be guided by Ines Nastali, the Editor of Ports & Harbors. The webinar is free of charge and you can register on the website of the World Ports Conference.

 

 

 

 

The March-April issue of P&H has arrived

The cover interview of the latest Ports & Harbors features Quah Ley Hoon, the Chief Executive of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore. In conversation with IAPH MD Patrick Verhoeven and P&H Editor Ines Nastali, Ley Hoon discusses digital transformation of the maritime sector, the crew change crisis and zero carbon fuels. Energy transition is a running topic in the March-April issue, including a perspective on future fuels, a feature on hydrogen and a historical perspective by Penny Thomas on the energy transition from sail to steam. Steam globalisation is the topic of John Darwin’s latest book Unlocking the World. Professor Darwin will be discussing his book at the 2021 World Ports Conference and Patrick Verhoeven already reviewed it for us. Diversity is a main theme of the spring issue as well, with the results of our poll on quotas and an interview with Heidi Heseltine, CEO of recruitment company Halycon and founder of the Diversity Study Group. These and many other stories are waiting for you in the digital version of the magazine. Members will be receiving their printed copies in the next days.

 

 

 

 

Next P&H poll: should port authorities be entrepreneurs?

For the poll of the May-June issue of Ports & Harbors, we want to talk about business innovation. Port communities consist of a variety of stakeholders, often with very different interests. To align these interests and to maximize competitiveness of their ports, there is a growing consensus that port authorities should go beyond their traditional regulatory and landlord roles and take an active community building role, both toward businesses and society. This will ensure ports develop sustainably. Some advocate that port authorities should go one step further and take on an entrepreneurial role in stimulating innovation and new business. Do you agree? Should port authorities not only be landlords but business and societal entrepreneurs? Have your say here.

 

 

 

 

Last month for 2021 Sustainability Awards submissions

We call upon all IAPH member ports to submit their projects for the 2021 edition of the World Ports Sustainability Awards. The competition aims to reward best practices and encourage ports to share their projects through the online portfolio of the World Ports Sustainability Program (WPSP). The project entries for the awards must correspond to one of the five WPSP themes. Projects can be submitted by filling out the template form on the WPSP website. You can also view a short video explainer below from our Technical Director Antonis Michail on how to apply. We welcome entries between now and 31 March 2021. As in previous years, projects will be assessed by a professional jury and the shortlist will be put to a public vote. Winners will be announced at the #IAPH2021 World Ports Conference, in Antwerp next June. If you would like to (re)visit the online announcement of this year’s winners, please click here.

 

 

 

 

Welcome Port of Bergen and Awake.AI

We warmly welcome two new members that joined us from the Nordic region of Europe: the Norwegian Port of Bergen and the Finnish start-up Awake.AI. Bergen is Norway’s second largest port and it is one of the most popular cruise destinations in Europe. Its role is to promote sea transport and to manage, operate, and develop the port facilities. Port of Bergen is committed to the development of innovative and sustainable solutions for an eco-friendlier port. The company has 52 employees, and its offices can be found at the Hurtigruten Terminal in Bergen. The Port of Bergen was already member of the Environmental Ship Index (ESI) and has now become a full-fledged regular member of IAPH. Awaka.AI is our youngest associate member. This start-up offers a marketplace solution to orchestrate complex shipping and port transactions. Its platform is currently used for smart ports and shipping operations by multiple actors such as port authorities and operators, cargo owners and ship operators around the globe. Awake marketplace is the new solution built on top of the existing platform offering new types of communications, expected time of arrival improvement, real-time asset tracking and identification and other advanced services to all actors.  With the help of networked organizations and SaaS (Software as a Service) workflow tools, Awake marketplace facilitates the organisation of complex shipping and port services.

 

 

Next IAPH IMO information session on 14 April

This Wednesday, we organised our first information session on the functioning of the International Maritime Organization. The initiative was taken following request of Technical Committee members to obtain more insight about how the IMO works. Natasha Brown, Head of Public Information Services at the IMO Secretariat gave an in-depth presentation on the functioning of the organisation, highlighting current priorities that are relevant to the port sector. She was joined in the Q&A session by IMO Technical Officers Martina Fontanet and Astrid Dispert. About forty members joined the session. To give the opportunity to members in all world regions to participate, we will be repeating the information session on 14 April at 3.30 PM CET. If you are interested to join, please inform Junichi Takemura at [email protected]

 

 

 

Outcomes of IAPH Data and Risk Committee meetings

The IAPH Data Collaboration and Risk and Resilience Technical Committees held their second online meetings last week. The Data Collaboration Committee, chaired by Pascal Ollivier (Maritime Street), agreed to submit the results of the IAPH FAL survey to the forthcoming meeting of the IMO Facilitation Committee (FAL 45). In the submission, IAPH is also calling upon the IMO to develop a capacity building initiative. The Committee further gave the green light to a submission on cybersecurity, announcing the development of IAPH cybersecurity guidelines for ports and port facilities. The submission is made both to FAL 45 and the next meeting of the IMO Maritime Safety Committee (MSC 103). Members also got an update on the port call optimisation agenda and they discussed a new guide of the Global Industry Alliance (GIA) on cost-effective measures to reduce CO2 emissions in the ship-port interface. Representatives of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, Hamburg Port Authority and Israel Ports Company respectively gave presentations on cybersecurity, autonomous vehicles and innovation, outlining specific work areas for the Committee. Tessa Major (Port of Açu) chaired the meeting of the Risk and Resilience Committee. Members agreed on a two-layer approach gathering insight on risk and resilience, through in-depth interviews with a selected number of ports and a high-level survey to feed an IAPH dashboard that covers all strategic focus areas. The Committee also endorsed the content of a set of generic guidelines on business continuity, which are to be presented at the June World Ports Conference. On COVID-19, the Committee decided to produce a comprehensive barometer report, analysing the trends since the first IAPH port economic barometer report was published in April last year. Specific attention was also paid to seafarer vaccination (see next article). Finally, members were briefed on the work in partnership with other organisations, including anti-corruption, extreme weather events and dangerous goods. If you missed the meetings, you can watch the video recordings that have been shared with all Committee members through email and Teams. The summary records of the meetings will be available shortly.

 

 

 

We want you for IAPH Vaccination Working Group!

During last week’s meeting of the Risk and Resilience Committee we discussed the plans of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) to have a series of hub ports designated for vaccination of seafarers. Unlike other priority workers, many seafarers will not be able to obtain their vaccination in their home country. That is why ICS is planning to work out protocols for seafarers to be vaccinated when leaving or joining a ship. This requires active collaboration of all authorities and stakeholders involved, including health and border authorities, seafarer centres and port authorities. The aim is to focus vaccination in a few hub ports around the world, preferably ports that are close to international airports. ICS has invited our cooperation in designing the protocols that would apply in these hub ports. At the Risk and Resilience Committee last week, it was agreed to support the initiative and set up a working group on vaccination. Next to providing input to the ICS protocols, the working group could also address other issues, such as the vaccination of cruise passengers and the handling of vaccination passports in general. Members interested to join this working group are invited to let Junichi Takemura ([email protected]) know the name of their representative by Tuesday 9 March at the latest.

 

 

IMO World Maritime Theme puts seafarers centre stage

IMO has chosen to make 2021 a year of action for seafarers, who are facing unprecedented hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic, despite their vital role as key workers for global supply chains. The World Maritime Theme for 2021, ‘Seafarers: at the core of shipping’s future’ seeks to increase the visibility of seafarers by drawing attention to the invaluable role they play now and will continue to play in the future. The focus on seafarers comes as the COVID-19 pandemic has placed extraordinary demands on seafarers, with hundreds of thousands of men and women stranded on ships for months beyond their original contracts, unable to be repatriated due to national travel restrictions. A similar number of seafarers are unable to join ships and earn a living. This crew change crisis, which has been ongoing for nearly a year, is a humanitarian emergency that threatens the safety of shipping. Throughout the year, the World Maritime Theme will also put the spotlight on other issues related to the human element of shipping, including the safety and security of life on board ships, seafarers’ well-being, and the importance of ensuring an appropriately trained and qualified workforce, ready to meet the challenges and opportunities of digitalization and automation. As part of its efforts to put seafarers at the heart of discussions, IMO has launched a series of profiles in which seafarers express their views on their work and the future of shipping.  In the first profile, Chief Engineer Matt Forster (United Kingdom) highlights the importance of making seafarers more visible, particularly in the context of the crew change crisis. You can watch the Matt’s story in the video below.

 

 

 

 

Support for operational and administrative data standard

Public and private sectors agree to the call for action by industry organisations to co-create a single supporting ISO technical standard to exchange operational and administrative data, offering realistic aspirations for ships to optimise port calls, reducing emissions and berth waiting time. The culmination of well over three years’ work by industry organisations and key maritime players in both public and private sectors received a major boost this week, with a key missing piece of the puzzle: application program interface (API) standards which are compatible and interoperable being agreed to in principle by the main global implementors of operational and administrative maritime data exchange systems. This crucial development complements positive advances made in nautical and hydrographical data standards and will aim to avoid ships having to exchange differently structured data sets with port communities and supply chain stakeholders around the world before, during and after their port call. IAPH joined forces with representative organisations of shipowners (BIMCO, ICS), ship agents and brokers (FONASBA), ship masters (IFSMA), harbour masters (IHMA), port community systems (IPCSA), dry bulk terminal operators and the International Task Force Port Call Optimisation in advancing the proposal to co-create a single and neutral technical standard under ISO Technical Committee 8 for administrative and operational data. First signatories already confirming their organisation’s participation include: the Digital Container Shipping Association (DCSA), Swedish Maritime Administration, GS1, Hamburg Vessel Coordination Center, IPCSA, Maersk, MarineTraffic, Navelink, PortXchange, Prodevelop, Fundación  Valenciaport and Wärtsilä. The specification and standardisation work will be done in an ISO working group with parallel updating of the IMO Reference Data Model. All parties will be called to meet during the second quarter of 2021. Additional parties interested in becoming a co-signatory are asked to contact the International Task Force Port Call Optimisation.

 

 

BIMCO JIT arrival clause for voyage charter parties

In a bid to encourage wider adoption of just in time (JIT) arrival principles in the bulk sector, BIMCO has published a new clause for voyage charter parties to promote more efficient shipping procedures and as a result, help reduce CO2 emissions. The new clause creates a contractual framework to overcome the primary obstacle to just in time arrivals; the obligation on shipowners to proceed with due or utmost despatch and without deviation. This is a critical aspect of making JIT arrivals work. Removing this obstacle will allow ships to optimise their speed and thereby arrive at a port at an optimal time and avoid delays without breaching their usual voyage charter obligations. BIMCO’s JIT Arrival Clause for Voyage Charter Parties gives charterers the right to ask owners to optimise the ship’s speed to meet a specified arrival time. If the ship is on its way to a loading port, charterers must in return agree a revised cancelling date. The safety of the ship remains paramount, and any speed adjustment request must fall within the ship’s safe operational limits. The clause also requires charterers to incorporate wording into bills of lading and waybills stating that owners’ compliance with charterers’ request to reduce speed will not be a breach of the contract of carriage and that charterers.  Applying the just in time arrival principle does not normally shorten the overall length of a voyage. It converts what would have been waiting time at a port into extra time spent at sea. The difference is that the extra time at a reduced speed decreases fuel consumption as well as reducing emissions, helping to minimise congestion at ports and anchorages. Just in time arrival schemes have been successfully implemented in the container sector and BIMCO believes that the bulk sector could also benefit. The bulk sector is not as vertically integrated as the liner trades and has many more players. As a result, implementing just in time arrival schemes in the bulk sector will require a determined and coordinated effort between owners, charterers and other key stakeholders. A few bulk operators are already using just in time arrival schemes and BIMCO believes that the bulk sector as a whole should actively investigate a more widespread adoption as pressure grows to optimise ships and ports. Copies of the BIMCO Just in Time Arrivals Clause for Voyage Charter Parties can be downloaded from BIMCO’s website.

 

 

Getting to Zero Coalition presents 2021 strategy

The Getting to Zero Coalition is committed to getting commercially viable deep sea zero emission vessels powered by zero emission fuels into operation by 2030. The Coalition is a partnership between the Global Maritime Forum, Friends of Ocean Action and World Economic Forum. The Coalition will be presenting its strategy for 2021 and deliverables for the 26th UN Climate Change Conference COP26 during a webinar which is scheduled for 9 March at 1 PM CET. In February, partners of the Coalition identified and discussed high-impact deliverables for the coming year and especially for COP26, across the existing Coalition workstreams. In this webinar, key outcomes will be shared and tentative workplans presented, with an invitation to the full Coalition membership to take part in the exciting work ahead. If you are interested in attending this webinar, please register here.Below you can watch a workstreams update recorded in a forty-minute video which is a useful preparation for next week’s webinar. It will run you through 2020 successes, expectations for 2021 and how the workstreams will continue to interact. The Getting to Zero Coalition is a powerful alliance of more than 140 companies within the maritime, energy, infrastructure and finance sectors, supported by key governments, inter-governmental organisations and non-governmental organisations, including IAPH.

 

 

 

ICS launches maritime protectionism index

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) published a report outlining the protectionist trade policies being implemented by governments worldwide. It demonstrates that if countries cut restrictive maritime trade policies it could help boost GDP by as much as 3.4% for national economies. ICS has commissioned this major study on ‘Protectionism in Maritime Economies’ to provide an assessment of those protectionist and restrictive trade policies and measures that are currently being implemented by governments worldwide, which may be preventing national economies from reaping the full benefits of having access to efficient maritime transport services. The study is also intended to encourage the formulation of appropriate policy responses. The comprehensive analysis draws on data from, among other sources, the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the World Bank. A major feature of the study is a new Protectionism in Maritime Economies (PRIME) Index and the allocation of a PRIME score to each of those countries for which comparable data is available. These form the basis for a new global ranking. The study focuses on 58 countries from a wide range of geographic regions. These countries include most of the major providers and beneficiaries of maritime transport services, which collectively account for most of the activity within the global economy. The study also explores the benefits that would flow to national economies from the reduction or removal of trade restrictive policies by governments, using a number of alternative scenarios for potential reform. The full study is available for purchase, but a summary report is freely available from the ICS website. The animated video below explains how the PRIME index works.

 

 

 

Member Port News

In this edition’s round up of member port news, you will find stories from the following IAPH members:

  • Europe and Africa region:  Port Autonome de Conakry, Port of Göteborg, Autoridad Portuaria de Huelva, Autoridad Portuaria de la Bahìa de Algeciras, Oslo Port Authority, Port of Rotterdam Authority, Autoridad Portuaria de Santa Cruz de Tenerife, bremenports, Freeport of Riga Authority, GIE HAROPA (Harbours of Le Havre, Rouen and Paris), Hamburg Port Authority, JadeWeserPort, Port Authority of Genoa, Port of Amsterdam, Port of Gdansk Authority, Port of Helsinki, Gibraltar Port Authority, Autoridad Portuaria de Huelva, Autoridad Portuaria de Valencia, Port Autonome de San Pedro, Nigerian Ports Authority, Autoridad Portuaria de Bilbao, Baku International Sea Trade Port, North Sea Port, Grand Port Maritime de Marseille, Ashdod Port Company
  •  America Region: Panama Maritime Authority, Port of Seattle, Port of San Diego, National Port Administration (Uruguay), Port of Los Angeles, Canaveral Port Authority
  •  Asia and Oceania Region: Ports and Maritime Organization Iran, Sabah Ports, Lyttelton Port Company, Port Nelson, Yeosu Gwangyang Port Authority, Abu Dhabi Ports, Gladstone Ports Corporation, Indonesia Port Corporation II, PSA International, Sri Lanka Ports Authority, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, Incheon Regional Office of Oceans and Fisheries, Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, Incheon Port Authority, Port Klang Authority, Marine Department Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Busan Regional Office of Oceans and Fisheries, City of Kawasaki

 

 

World Maritime News

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

  • Panama Canal raises slot booking prices
  • Another Maersk boxship losses containers in rough seas
  • DFDS and Maersk back carbon-neutral ammonia plant
  • Maersk to deploy first carbon neutral container ship by 2023
  • Wallenius Wilhelmsen plans wind-powered ro-ro ships
  • CMA CGM expands future fuel coalition
  • CMA CGM to deploy first LNG ships on transpacific
  • DNV shines light on the dark side of innovation
  • Transparency vital for charterers’ low-carbon shift
  • Virginia port data becoming critical to supply chain management
  • Awake.AI collaborates with ESA to develop a marketplace for sustainable and intelligent maritime logistics

 

 

Calendar of Events

IAPH events and events where IAPH is represented

 

 

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