The final afternoon at GreenPort Congress 2026 continued the conference’s inspirational role in enabling debate and the exchange of information, all directed at achieving the environmental ambitions held by the port and shipping community.
The penultimate conference session took in a wide-ranging number of topics while exploring Port Infrastructure, terminals & sustainable operations, with expert contributions from Mike Sellers, Port Director of event host Portsmouth International Port, Helena Puce from DP World, Mark Simmonds from the British Ports Association, and NABU’s Brix Lacroix.
“Of all the panels we had today, I’d say that one covered the broadest number of topics,” said session moderator Stephanie Haszczyn, Senior Policy Manager at Logistics UK.
“We had government involvement, government policy. We looked at methane leakage from LNG fuels. We looked at Portsmouth and its future plans and also its unique role as a municipal port. And then we also had DP World talking about reducing their emissions and how much they’re investing in doing so, but also their collaboration with freight that kind of comes in and out of the port.
“I feel like a lot of the questions were looking at how government and companies can work collaboratively on these big topics, such as what are the future of fuels going to be? What does shore power in the future look like? How do we address some of the cost and capacity constraints around that? And talking about things like impacts on air quality and biodiversity for the local communities around ports. So we don’t have all the answers, but we started the discussion.”
The final session of the day, and indeed the conference, saw a panel discussion taking a look down the road ahead under the heading Ports of the future – Collaboration & system integration.
As with the previous discussion it covered a lot of ground, though with more of a focus around the challenge and opportunities of clean, green fuel.
BMT’s Dr Tom Beard said: “It’s a really big challenge as there is a lot of dual fuel, whether it’s LNG, methanol or ammonia, and there are issues around storage and we are allowed to store less of it than diesel. So it’s a big challenge for governments.”
Edvard Molitor, Head of International Public Affairs and Sustainability at the Port of Gothenburg, proposed a more immediate move: “We knew 10 years ago we needed new fuels, different fuels, and now we know it even better but that doesn’t help us – the cost gap to new fuels is still there, but we must accept it as we need it now. We need to scale up and do what we need to do.”
Ekaitz Lopez Amurrio, Chief Financial Officer and European Funds Coordinator, Bilbao Port Authority, host port for GreenPort Congress 2027: “We need to organise, optimise and collaborate.”
Chris Hatter, Head of Compliance, Portsmouth International Port: “We are going to be multi-fuelled and we have to build that into every decision from now on. That’s got to be part of our DNA because if we’re not designing now, we’re not going to be ready for 20 years.”
GreenPort Congress 2026 concluded with an exclusive technical visit to BMT’s Digital Innovation and Simulation Centre (DISC), where delegates were able to experience DISC SIM from a port operations perspective.
Built on BMT’s advanced simulation and immersive digital technology, DISC SIM brings complex port scenarios to life in a realistic, virtual environment, helping stakeholders test ideas and de‑risk future projects.
To conclude, a final word from Christopher Wooldridge in wrapping up the conference: “I don’t want a philosophical discussion to finish, but the word resilience has come through time and time. The last few years it’s been sustainability, and that’s still there.
“I looked up resilience – the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties, adapt to new challenges, and bounce back from stressful or traumatic experiences. We are a resilient sector, but I like the phrase ‘Let’s anticipate rather than react!”
