‘Closing the Gaps’

Written in collaboration with the World Bank and with input from 85 executives from 35 countries, ‘Closing the Gaps – key actions in digitalization, decarbonization and resilience the maritime sector’, follows nine months of workshops involving stakeholders from across the maritime logistics chain.

“Back in 2021 our outgoing and incoming IAPH presidents concurred that ports were not prepared for the pandemic-affected, extreme swings in demand and their impact on the maritime transport chain,” said IAPH managing director Dr Patrick Verhoeven in the report’s forward.

“This was principally due to long-term under-investment in port and port-related infrastructure. So we took the decision to define and identify, on a global level, the principal infrastructure gaps and to envisage a concrete plan, along with the World Bank, to close those gaps.”

Shippers, terminal operators, port authorities, digital innovators, academics and financiers came together in a series of eight workshops followed by regional forums which took place at the IAPH2022 World Ports Conference in Vancouver, Canada.

The results of these workshops have informed the report and given rise to a number of anticipated outputs including a new suite of safety-related port bunkering and terminal tools for emerging zero carbon fuels, a white paper fact sheet guide from ports who have successfully integrated innovation into their business models and a basic, easy-to-use guide for ports looking to establish a structured approach to resilience.