IAPH sponsors and co-sponsors six submissions on cybersecurity of maritime single windows, port call optimisation, port community systems, IMO’s forthcoming digitalisation strategy, illicit trading as well as training and education for mooring personnel
The IAPH was present in full force this week at the International Maritime Organization’s Headquarters in London, as the IMO FAL convention celebrated it’s sixtieth anniversary since its foundation and proceeded with its 49th committee meeting.
During his intervention, IAPH Managing Director Patrick Verhoeven stated:
“The FAL convention has undoubtedly positively impacted trade facilitation between countries enabling maritime transport systems to become more interoperable. However, looking ahead towards the future of facilitation of maritime traffic, we do need greater trust between all stakeholders. Since our initial industry-led call to action, it has been proven as the main identifiable success factor in accelerating digitalisation in the ship-shore interface and the wider maritime supply chain.”
The key security challenge: dealing with the cyberattack threat on world ports
Patrick also warned the member states and NGOs present that cybersecurity is the greatest threat facing ports, which explains and justifies the current submission IAPH is co-sponsoring alongside Bangladesh, Brazil, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Peru, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and UAE. The submission proposes to safeguard maritime single windows by introducing mandatory requirements to implement cybersecurity measures.
“There is not one month where somewhere in the world a port suffers a cyberattack. This can lead to disastrous consequences for that country’s trade should the cyber resilience of that port entity be insufficient. That is why we are co-submitting a proposal calling for establishing appropriate and adequate legal governance structures in member states that enable the required cyber measures to be put in place to secure maritime single windows, either as separate entities or as part of wider, Port Community Systems.”
To combat this threat in practical terms, a working group of the data collaboration committee headed by vice chair Gadi Benmoshe of Marinnovators consulting has drawn up the first draft of cyber resilience guidelines for ports by member port and associate member experts. The content will be discussed at the upcoming IAPH technical committee days in London at the end of March and the report will be published by IAPH later this year.
In addition, IAPH has further strengthened its own staff to focus on this priority issue, adding Chloe Rowland as Senior Manager for both Data Collaboration and Risk and Resilience committees, who also joined IAPH’s Policy and IMO Liaison Officer Rhona Macdonald at FAL49. In her former role at the University of Plymouth, Chloe managed it’s Maritime Cyber Security Labs to address cyber vulnerabilities in vessels, ports and maritime supply chains and remains linked to the work there.
The key efficiency challenge: how to optimise the port call of a vessel
IAPH’s incoming data collaboration committee chair Ingrid Boqué Sastre also attended IMO FAL49 to present a study prepared by an industry supply chain task force on Port Call Optimisation (PCO) through data quality. Written by member ports with the support of a cross-sectoral working group and authors, the report shares ports' practical experience in implementing the International Maritime Organization GIA GloMEEP Just-in-Time Arrival Guide, and the Guidelines for harmonised communication and electronic exchange of operation data for port calls.
Patrick Verhoeven commented further: “At our IAPH World Ports Conference in Hamburg last October, the CEO of MSC Soren Toft spoke on behalf of shipowners by requesting improved efficiency at world ports, calling for vessel “Formula 1 pit stops”. At this stage only a few ports in the world have endeavoured to implement port call optimisation. So IAPH and other supporting organisations have submitted this report to encourage widespread implementation of PCO, based on the experience of pioneering ports.”
A further impediment to optimising a port call and limiting vessel dwell time is the lack of global implementation of port community systems to synchronise the activities of all parties before, during and after a ship has called alongside. IAPH also submitted to FAL 49 the executive summary report co-published with the World Bank “Port Community Systems - lessons from global experience” which contains examples of successful implementations from Small Island Developing States to developed countries.
In what was a record number of submissions for IAPH, the association also co-sponsored documents supporting the development of the revised IMO digitalisation strategy, a gap analysis listing key findings of a previous submission to prevent illicit trading and revisions and updates relating to the guidelines on minimum training and education for mooring personnel. The oversight of all of these submissions is credited to our previous DCC chair Pascal Ollivier, president of Maritime Street.
About IAPH
Founded in 1955, the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH) has developed into a global alliance of 191 port authorities as well as 165 port-related businesses. Comprised of over 80 different nationalities across the world’s continents, member ports handle over one third of the world’s sea-borne trade and well over 60% of the world container traffic. IAPH leads global port industry initiatives on decarbonisation and energy transition, risk and resilience management, and accelerating digitalisation in the maritime transport chain. The IAPH’s World Ports Sustainability Program has grown into the reference database of best practices of ports applying the UN Sustainable Development Goals and integrating them into their businesses - iaphworldports.org.