VIDEO: IAPH 2015 Kicks Off, SmartPORT on the Agenda

Being ready for what the future has in store means being smart when it comes to planning investments, a topic which was in the focus of the first day of the 29th IAPH World Ports Conference taking place in Hamburg.

The key topics on the agenda of the conference are future SmartPORT and the cruise industry.

The conference opened in a pretty impressive but unusual manner as shown in the video below:

 “It’s been an unusual way to open a conference, a very spectacular and innovate way. But if you want to send a message about being a Smart Port, why not do it the way it’s been done today?” said IAPH President Grant Gilfallon.

To kick off the conference, a discussion was held on ship size developments, with the panel discussing, inter alia, the challenges faced by ports, terminals and captains in the clearance of mega-carriers.

As an introduction to this topic, general overviews on the global economic developments were given by Peter Hinchliffe, Secretary General International Chamber of Shipping, and Dr. Christian Growitsch, Director of the Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWI).

The Hamburg Port Authority (HPA) as organiser of the global event availed of the opportunity to present its “smartPORT” concept.

HPA joined forces with the State Ministry of Economic Affairs, Transport and Innovation, and the State Ministry of Urban Development and Environment to develop the ‘smartPORT energy’ concept a few years ago.

The concept involves a switch to renewable sources of energy to power the port and promotion of environmentally-friendly and innovative solutions aimed at boosting mobility.

One of the most recent examples saw the port inaugurate its LNG hybrid barge Hummel with the first ”cold ironing” to the AIDAsol.

In this context, Jens Meier, CEO Hamburg Port Authority, explained the economic and logistical processes that rendered the Port of Hamburg more efficient and sustainable by an advanced computer-based infrastructure.

Michael Pal, principal analyst for logistics at Western Australia’s Fremantle Ports, demonstrated the Australian perspective of intelligent port management by “Truck Marshalling Automation and Control Key Performance Indicator”. In addition, representatives from Stockholm, Valencia, and the Far East gave their answers to the question of what will make port a smart one.

The last day will be devoted to cruise, port law, and air purity in ports. In addition, the IAPH Women’s Forum will meet to address the question “how diversity contributes to smart thinking”.

In the cruise session, Douglas Ward, author of the Berlitz Cruise Guide, will give insights into the importance of the “wow effect” when marketing cruise offers.

In the port law session, which will be held parallel, legal experts devote from Rotterdam, London and Hamburg will address the question of legal domicile in maritime law. They will also address the questions of appropriate insurance policies for ports in case of accidents, including issues such as: Is ship cargo still sufficiently insured today? Who will be held liable in the event of loss or injury in ports?

The conference has attracted 900 international representatives of the worlds of business, politics and science in the Hanseatic City for the five-day ports conference that started on June 1st.