A new energy roadmap

At the same time ports need to ensure that they are proactive and ensure they have strong investment strategies going forward.

“It’s about helping to formulate the solution rather than having so called solutions imposed upon you,” said Daniel Yergin, vice chairman, IHS Markit, at the third day of the 2021 IAPH conference.

Building resilience

Supply chain disruption over the last year and a half has been put in the spotlight like never before, be it from the likes of the Suez Canal blockage or the partial shutdown of south China ports where pandemic control efforts and cargo congestion have thrown logistics into chaos.

Resilience going forward is fundamental.

But Mr Yergin said that this is not something that “will be easy”. It takes time to build facilities and adapt working practices, it is not something that will happen overnight.

Most of the industry he said, does not expect recovery until later in 2022. Such is the fall out from what Mr Yergin calls the greatest challenge we have faced during peace time.

“But the port system is critical in supporting the global recovery because “ports are the gears that make the global economy work,” he said.

Although everything at the moment is more complicated he said and we’re not out of the woods yet, the opportunity is there to build back even bigger and better than before.