PAR: Ports agree to action points in field of disruption, digitalization and decarbonization
19 port authorities from Africa, Asia, Europe, Middle East, and the US, signed a declaration on their collective response to disruption, digitalisation, and decarbonisation at the 6th Port Authorities Roundtable (PAR).
Hosted by the Antwerp Port Authority, this virtual event was held on 22 and 23 June 2021.
The roundtable, which was initiated in 2015 on initiative of the Maritime Port Authority of Singapore, gathers world ports to engage in open sharing and discussion to address issues of common interests and seek mutually beneficial collaboration opportunities in today’s evolving maritime landscape.
With this year’s theme being “Enhancing the impact of ports as levers for change”, the CEO’s of the ports of Abu Dhabi, Associated British Ports, Antwerp, Barcelona, Busan, Guangzhou, Hamburg, Klang, Kobe, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Montreal, , Ningbo, Rotterdam, Santos, Seattle, Shanghai, Singapore and Tanger Med discussed how to respond to and prepare for challenges and risks related to ports and shipping. In conclusion of the high-level discussions, the port authorities agreed to a number of concrete actions.
- Disruption
The ports have agreed to further develop the PAR Incident Sharing Framework (PAR-ISF) enabling ports to report on a voluntary basis in a systematic and active way on incidents, and to establish a mechanism to enable consultation and dialogue in case of incidents and crisis. - Digitalization
The ports will further explore the applicability of Port of Rotterdam’s Routescanner as a neutral platform for the visualization of container transport options and to further improve sustainable and cost-efficient global supply chains.
Ports were also updated on the Port Authorities CIO Cybersecurity Network (PACC-Net) to strengthen cyber resiliency and response through three key focus areas: information-sharing, project collaboration and education. - Decarbonization
Following the discussion on the importance of the decarbonization of shipping and the role of ports to realize this aspiration, the Port Authorities Roundtable will explore support to the Global Maritime Forum’s Getting to Zero Coalition COP 26 call to action which aims to encourage governments, industry and global policy makers to realize zero emission vessels by 2030.
Port Authorities also considered and discussed other decarbonization initiatives, such as the establishment of MPA’s maritime decarbonization center to collaborate to reduce GHG emissions, implement identified decarbonization pathways and create new business opportunities.
