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Digitalisation drives modernisation of maritime trade
Pierre Cariou was involved in organising the ISLI Supply Chain Forum, “Emerging Challenges in a Complex Future”, held at the Kedge Business School in Bordeaux in March 2018. One of the panel discussions moderated by Pierre Cariou focused on the digitalisation of shipping supply chains. Dominique Lebreton, MGI chief business development officer, also spoke about Channel 5 and artificial intelligence. Focus on the conclusions of this panel discussion. What are the impacts of digitalisation on the maritime sector? For the forum, we...
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The Analyst: we need more mavericks in ports
By Peter de Langen In various previous columns I have argued that port development is often ‘emergent’ rather than planned. Often, there is a huge gap between the port development plans on paper, and the realised port development. Of course, this is not unique to port development, but a common characteristic of most companies: the strategy emerges out of executed projects. If we accept this take on port development, it follows that port authorities/port development companies need ‘mavericks’, people that do not follow the...
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Blockchains for logistics: from hype to relevance?
By Jean-Paul Rodrigue An artificial consensus While presenting at recent transportation trade conferences I expressed rather skeptical views about the potential of Blockchains for logistics, which raised a few eyebrows and critiques. The industry is currently drinking its own cool-aid and caught in the standard hype cycle where the benefits of a new technology are exaggerated while the complexity and costs of its implementation are discounted. Many do not understand well what it entails from a technological, managerial and operational...
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Towards smarter port-city stakeholder collaboration?
A better understanding of what matters to whom… from the Court to the Cloud! The emergence of the expansion mindset Port managing bodies and the cities located near or around them often have long, common histories of joint economic and social development. For a number of ports, this has been extensively documented by researchers in economic and social history. Often, port development, through mostly outward expansion projects has led, especially during the second half of the 20thcentury, to great sacrifices by surrounding local...
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Port automation: a paradox for the shipping industry
By Jean Paul Rodrigue Automation is bringing a series of paradoxes to the shipping industry. Since maritime shipping is in the derived demand business, it is misleading to assume that automation does not affect the demand for shipping as well. Although automation is mostly considered by the industry at the port terminal level, it also takes place across entire supply chains, a process associated with the fourth industrial revolution (manufacturing 4.0/4IR). The impacts of automation may thus be more significant on the...
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The Analyst: flexibility key to wind ambitions
By Peter de Langen This year’s Danish Port Days were held in Esbjerg, with the theme of ‘port transformations’ guiding a conference that included sessions where academics and industry leaders discussed management research issues worth exploring One of those issues came straight from a tour of the port: over the last few years Esbjerg has developed into the leading Danish offshore wind port, hosting a large number of companies involved in construction, assembly, and transport of components of offshore windmills, as well as related...
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Details of a port privatisation: Thessaloniki port
By George Vaggelas and Thanos Pallis The port is Thessaloniki in Greece. The date is March 2018. A long port privatization process that lasted almost 13 (!!) years is finally concluded, with the Greek state handing 67% of the shares of the Thessaloniki Port Authority S.A. to the new owners of the port, the South Europe Gateway Thessaloniki (SEGT) Ltd. This transaction is the outcome of an international call by the Greek government, that was initiated in 2014 and the winning of the tender by SEGT; the other two binding bids for a majority...
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Cruise ports need to upscale their representation by subscribing to the WPSP
By Thanos Pallis The launching of the World Ports Sustainability Programme (WPSP) by the International Association of Ports and Harbours (IAPH), the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA), the European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO), AIVP – The Worldwide Network of Port Cities (AIVP) and the World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure (PIANC) in March is a major step towards a responsible growth of the port industry. It is a most welcomed initiative by all of us serving ports and the maritime world. WPSP aims to...
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