International Association of Ports and Harbors managing director Patrick Verhoeven explains how a new action plan will help ports overcome major challenges
The International Association of Ports and Harbors’ (IAPH) newly released Closing the Gaps action plan is a catalyst for identifying and dealing with gaps in global port infrastructure.
The study, produced jointly with World Bank and released October 2022, underpins IAPH’s current and future focuses.
Closing the Gaps highlights three pillars – the major challenges facing the maritime industry: digitalisation, decarbonisation and resilience.
IAPH managing director Patrick Verhoeven explains the work behind the study, “We decided to do a mapping exercise when it came to the three major pillars. We went through the process with the World Bank, organising eight regional workshops for indepth discussions about what the major problems are for ports around the world. The report is a synopsis of that entire process, including our debate at our annual conference in Vancouver this year, where the mapping process came together, and we talked about the main findings.
“We want to build on this and move forward in the next year.”
The action plan is closely connected to IAPH’s World Ports Sustainability Programme, launched in 2018, which is an online guide for the best practice on the three pillars and others.
“That programme is ready for a new life, and I see the two coming together. We need to move beyond best practices to complete support and close the gaps,” says Mr Verhoeven.
IAPH’s ambition is that the action plan will lead to both training and technical support and as a means to seek out funding to help meet challenges. World Bank comes in as one of the partners to unlock funding opportunities, and the action plan is searching for other funding opportunities to suggest to those that need it, too.
It is a catalyst to IAPH mobilising its members to provide technical expertise. “We have ports as core members and then associate members which are suppliers to the port industry. A lot of expertise is not used apart from individually. Therefore, we want to mobilise expertise. We want to give it a more concrete stage and the action plan is an in-between step,” says Mr Verhoeven.
Digital transformation
He singles out digital transformation as an area where tangible action is already being taken. Here, a major challenge the industry faces is implementing the maritime single window system, which is mandatory for IMO member states from 1 January 2024.
“We have taken action with IMO and BIMCO to create awareness of this deadline and also on 18-19 January, we are organising a two-day technical symposium with BIMCO to explain the requirements, look at how to go about implementing them, how to establish a single window, how it relates to port community systems and where to get support for it, such as funding,” says Mr Verhoeven, adding, “We have moved from a gaps exercise to hands-on advice.”
Other examples are working towards closing the energy transition gap. IAPH has developed a free toolbox to help ports with LNG bunkering that covers safety aspects and operational areas. These are now being adapted to include liquefied hydrogen, ammonia and methanol – the fuels of the future.
IAPH is also going to help the World Bank update its port reform tool kit, which is 15 years old. “It is outdated and does not consider new challenges. We will help create a new version that is more addressed to governments and port authorities, as some ports are still extended arms of government and may not have autonomy to go in that direction of change,” explains Mr Verhoeven.
Energy hubs and green corridors
IAPH is undertaking other energy transition initiatives, including Clean Energy Marine Hubs, a joint project it launched along with International Chamber of Shipping and the Clean Energy Maritime Taskforce at the recent Clean Energy Ministerial in Pittsburgh. This initiative aims to derisk investments in future clean fuels and accelerate the production and trade of low-carbon fuels for shipping around the world.
Explaining the background, Mr Verhoeven says, “The role of ports in moving new fuels, from origin to destination, including many of those in developing countries, will be crucial moving forward. Ports need to have developed terminals and distribution facilities and connection to major shipping lines.
“We are focusing on getting governments on board, we want governments to share what they are doing in the absence of a global regulatory framework.”
The Clean Marine Energy Hubs already has Canada, the UAE and Panama signed up to the initiative.
IAPH also supports several green corridor initiatives: the Transatlantic, Shanghai to LA, Japan and Australia, and Rotterdam to Singapore. And there is also an exploration of the feasibility of the first cruise-led green corridor, an initiative including Port of Seattle, Vancouver Fraser Port Authority and leading global cruise lines, announced at IAPH’s Vancouver conference.
Mr Verhoeven says, “We need carbon-free ships on deepsea routes by 2030 – that means identifying promising corridors with the most potential for creating end-to-end resilience, digital connectivity and the use of zero-carbon fuels. That is where IAPH can help bring ports and lines together to co-ordinate and make this happen with other stakeholders. That is what the green corridors are about.”
IAPH has announced its intent to further develop its Environmental Ship Index (ESI), extending the functionality of environmental performance of vessels visiting ports, and to promote, by 2028, shoreside electricity supply using sustainable sources, particularly for cruise and container ships.
“This is about avoiding stranded assets – some ports have onshore power supplies and cruise ships don’t use it and vice versa, so we are looking at which ports offer it and then extending the knowledge to ports that are not there yet.” IAPH is working with cruise industry association CLIA on this initiative.
Risk resilience
Moving to the third pillar, resilience, Mr Verhoeven explains how this is a new initiative that comes on the back of a risk resilience committee set up by IAPH in the pandemic.
“We started resilience from scratch with a group that was only looking at business continuity of global ports during the initial waves of Covid-19. This grew into a bigger initiative as the pandemic was not the only problem. There was also a supply chain crunch and the Suez Canal blocking, and now we have an emerging energy crisis – ports need to get used to dealing with the next crisis and few have risk assessment and management in their strategies.”
Mr Verhoeven adds, “First you need strategy and awareness, and we are still at the general awareness stage.”
The leading committee, which includes Antwerp and Vancouver ports, is creating guidelines to build resilience and a business continuity plan, which will be rolled out next year.
Circling back to Closing the Gaps, Mr Verhoeven concludes, “The report gives us a solid base to move forward as it is grounded in reality. The ports are still our core audience, but we need to reach out to other maritime sectors and supply chain stakeholders are essential to keep cargo and passengers moving.”
One breakthrough is that IAPH has come together with shipping through joint work with both the International Chamber of Shipping and BIMCO – something that has never happened before.
“Both sides are dependent on onshore activities and what is happening on the water and the aim is to eliminate disconnection between the two,” Mr Verhoeven comments. This is something the follow up to Closing the Gaps will aim to resolve.
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