In the mid-1990s, two of the association’s core themes – climate and energy and risk and resilience – were thrust to the forefront of the agenda at the IAPH Conference, in ways that still resonate today. The 1993 edition was held in Australia, with an opening ceremony at the world-famous Sydney Opera House. Following on from the introduction of IAPH guidelines at the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Earth Summit the year before, the conference passed a resolution on ship’s port fees, asserting that ‘members of IAPH should consider incentives […] including the possibility of adopting a Scheme in which environmentally friendly equipped and operated ships are encouraged in the structuring of port tariffs and fees.’ Notably, the following January Rotterdam Municipal Port Management began to reduce port dues by 10% for tankers with segregated ballast tanks. These first moves toward a program of port incentives for environmentally friendly shipping would one day be formalised in an IMO-recognised global scheme: the Environmental Ship Index (as of 2020, an IAPH initiative). In June 1995, a case study of remarkable resilience was presented at the 19th edition of the conference, hosted by the ports of Seattle and Tacoma. The year had begun with news of the Great Hanshin Earthquake that devastated the city of Kobe. Masaaki Eguchi, director general for the Port of Kobe, addressed the delegates. He noted that – although port facilities suffered US$11bn in damage – urgent reconstruction work had made it possible to rapidly accommodate ships transporting water, food, medical and relief goods. Relief goods from the Port of LA were transshipped from Nagoya to assist the recovery. On 20 March, two months after the disaster, full-scale container handling resumed and the first ship departed, bound – appropriately – for Seattle. Kobe was a candidate to host the IAPH Conference for the first time in 1999, but had to withdraw following the disaster. A quarter of a century on, the city will finally be able to fulfil that vision.
IAPH conference delegates enjoy music at the Sydney Opera House in 1993
