Not backward – just smaller
Its not that the port industry is necessarily a conservative one, explains Simona Margarino of the Ports Adapting to Change (PATCH) initiative, “its more that they dont easily benefit from innovation, as they are often limited in their resources.”
After all, she pointed out just before the Seawork-hosted PATCH conference in Southampton on 23 May, its not easy for smaller operations to evaluate, or even find out about, new technology.
Its worthwhile noting the PATCH project, which takes in Zeeland Seaports, Zeebrugge, Ramsgate, Calais, Portsmouth, Oostende and Newhaven, not only helps ports gain from the capabilities that scale gives to the larger ports – but also shares the challenges of applying different kinds of solutions.
For example, as Mark Webb of Portsmouth explained, the port’s new seawater heating and cooling technology has had some teething issues. So, along with the business case for innovation, it was recognised that the typically smaller suppliers of green tech sometimes are innately more vulnerable to business risks, and ongoing relationships may be that much more important.
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