THE BIG D’S AND THE WIND OF CHANGE

In the realm of deepsea shipping, where I spend a lot of time, the big items are “digitalisation” and “decarbonisation”.

Though the emphasis is slightly different, the port community in the US (and indeed all over the world) is grappling with both of these “Ds”. Another “D”- data, is really buttressing both of these, albeit it is most efficient working in the background, out of sight. As efforts are underway, at a USA Federal level (presumably in close coordination regionally and locally), to gain greater insights into all things related to data in supply chains, it will be important for planners to take an expansive view, less port operations get gummed up by unanticipated shifts in business practices. I am not talking about shifts, real or imagined, of container traffic to East Coast ports; rather I am thinking about inchoate businesses really opening up.

In New York, my home town and backyard, exciting developments are underway. Offshore wind, a long contemplated major factor in the state-wide electrification efforts, is now moving beyond the planning stages into real activity, with the beginnings of development surrounding the New York Bight. There will be new traffic patterns for vessels entering and departing the harbour, as turbines are sighted and cables are laid. There will also be a massive surge in movements of cargo to support construction, and then subsequent servicing, of the wind energy infrastructure. Talk about a shift in business practices, let’s hope that the data architects are thinking of the mid 2020’s, as they develop plans, in 2022, for data flows for avoiding future supply chain chaos.

Less exciting are developments surrounding another type of traffic around the region. For years, I had ranted to anyone who would listen, that my least favorite motorway, the decrepit and decaying 1950’s era Brooklyn Queens Expressway (or “BQE”), would fall into the water. City planners seem to have agreed, they closed several lanes in one particularly sensitive spot, backing up vehicular traffic even more than previously (hard as that is to imagine). Now, there is a renewed groundswell of interest in barging of containers and truck trailers around the harbor. This may be very low tech. But, similarly to the higher tech realm of wind energy, my hope is that in this blockchain enabled world, where port planners bring in their techie friends, data efforts should not omit the boring side of transportation. Mundane developments such as driving truck trailers onto a barge, or hoisting containers maybe two or three high on to a flat platform to be towed across the harbor, should also be considered by data architects.