We are pleased to be an official partner supporting IAPH World Ports Conference 2024. Join the conference presented by the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH) for three days of networking, knowledge exchange, and collaborative discussions centred on risk management, resilience building, and seizing opportunities in the port industry.
In this interview, Rakin Rahman, Staff Reporter at Port Technology International (PTI), sits down with Victor Shieh, IAPH’s Strategy and Communications Director, to discuss the IAPH 2024 World Ports Conference, its aims and objectives, alongside the topics it will cover.
Why is the IAPH 2024 World Ports Conference a must-attend event for port executives and industry leaders?
The IAPH 2024 World Ports Conference is one of the top events if you are interested in getting a global overview of what’s happening to ports worldwide. Since the pandemic, this is the third edition of the conference that we’ve held. The first post-pandemic one was in Vancouver, Canada, and then we had our event in Abu Dhabi last November.
Each of these events was attended not just by the port authorities and IAPH members themselves, but also by associate members—such as terminal operators, and technology providers—and around 160 associate members who serve those port authorities. In addition, each event also attracted people from outside the port industry who were interested in engaging with it. For instance, in Vancouver, we had regulators from Washington and key speakers from beneficial cargo owners, the World Bank, and other organisations. This diverse audience carried through to Abu Dhabi, where we welcomed our first major beneficial cargo owners, who are now associate members.
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We now regularly have shipowners speaking at our conferences. For example, at the upcoming conference, we will have senior representatives not only from the shipowners themselves but also from organisations that represent the vast majority of shipowners, such as the International Chamber of Shipping.
What makes the IAPH 2024 World Ports Conference essential is that goes beyond port authorities and terminal operators. It brings together the entire maritime, logistics, and shipping community. Our aim is to unite everyone under one roof for a couple of days to discuss the key topics that matter most to them.
What opportunities does the IAPH 2024 World Ports Conference offer for networking and collaboration among port authorities, ship owners and supply chain providers?
The opportunities are closely tied to the conference’s central theme: managing risk, building resilience, and unlocking new opportunities. In today’s world, we face significant geopolitical challenges and frequent disruptions to the global supply chain, like recent events in the Red Sea. Extreme weather events, cyberattacks, and natural disasters have increasingly impacted ports, pushing our members to prioritise risk management and resilience.
This is where the IAPH’s work becomes critical, particularly through our dedicated committees. For instance, our Risk and Resilience Committee focuses on these challenges, but similar concerns are also present in areas like energy transition. Ports must prepare for new fuel types, requiring substantial infrastructure investments. The shift towards electrification also raises questions about sourcing sustainable energy for onshore power to ships.
On the digitalisation front, emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing introduce both opportunities and risks, especially in terms of cybersecurity. Ports need to address these from a ship-to-shore perspective and within their own operations.
Each of these challenges also presents opportunities for ports to lead, innovate, and gain a competitive edge. At the IAPH 2024 World Ports Conference, we aim to explore these themes in depth and provide practical tools to help ports enhance their resilience and seize new business opportunities.
What can attendees expect to learn from the high-level sessions and workshops at the IAPH 2024 World Ports Conference?
One of the main highlights will be the opening session on day one, featuring a very high-level panel with Arsenio Dominguez, IMO Secretary-General, Nikolaus H. Schües, President of BIMCO, and Esben Poulsson, former Chairman of the International Chamber of Shipping. The session will be moderated by a senior person responsible for supply chains from the World Economic Forum, and they’ll discuss the future of the industry.
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The IMO has made significant progress through negotiations, increasing the ambition for the industry to decarbonise, and it has also worked hard on building resilience and enhancing data collaboration. However, the upcoming talks on the carbon levy and market-based measures will be pivotal, especially regarding decarbonisation. These discussions are set for September, just a week before the conference, and it will be fascinating to see the direction the industry takes as a result. This will certainly be something to watch closely.
We also have a session on this topic where the Senator of Hamburg will discuss the City’s vision of evolving from a traditional port to a potential energy hub within the decarbonisation framework. This includes exploring alternative fuels for vessels, such as ammonia or ethanol, aside from LNG. There’s also the question of new fuels and how Hamburg could play a role as an importer of ammonia or methanol, which could come from developing countries carrying green hydrogen molecules generated by solar or wind energy. These fuels wouldn’t only be for maritime use but also for decarbonising cities and industries.
We’ll also hear reactions from other parties. For instance, the IMO has requested IAPH to research what kind of investment and funding would be required for infrastructure in ports in developing countries, ensuring an inclusive energy transition.
Victor Shieh is the Strategy and Communications Director at IAPH, initially joining as Communications Partner for the World Ports Sustainability Program in 2018. He has been involved in the maritime and logistics industry since earning his BCom from the University of Birmingham. Shieh began his career in the UK with the National Freight Consortium before moving to Spain to manage real-time data solutions for Iberian ports. In 1998, he relocated to Belgium to manage a logistics data system. He later joined Safmarine Container Lines as Global PR and Communications Executive, and after a decade, started his own communications agency, advising various maritime and logistics companies.
