Latest confirmed speakers include Chris Welsh, General Secretary of the Global Shippers Forum (GSF), Santiago Garcia-Mila, Deputy Executive Director, Port of Barcelona and President of port industry trade associations IAPH and ESPO, Richard Anamoo, Director-General of the Ghana Ports & Harbors Authority, Dr Kimikho Endoh, Director of Japan’s Ministry of Land Infrastructure,
Transport and Tourism and John Warda, Director Global Supply Chain for Emerald Grain, also Chair of ICHCA’s Australia chapter.
Among other key issues, the event will assess and advise on industry-wide preparations ahead of the new IMO SOLAS container weight verification regime coming into force next July. ICHCA was heavily involved as an NGO in developing the new rules, which require the weight of all loaded containers to be verified by one of two methods prior to being loaded onto a ship – either by weighing the entire container complete with its contents, or by separately weighing the cargo and packing materials and then adding this to the tare weight of the container.
Some shippers remain unaware of the legislation and many more have stated that they will not be ready. With 170 IMO signatory nations automatically obliged to comply with the legislation come 1 July, industry and regulators face a significant global challenge over the next 7 months. Practical next steps to enable implementation will be the topic of a half-day session during the conference, with insights from IMO, TT Club, Holman Fenwick Willian, Port of Barcelona and Contship Italia, among others. The session will also address the related issues of proper cargo packing and container lashing and securing – also essential to ensure safety and prevent loss along the transport chain. ICHCA together with GSF, TT Club and World Shipping Council has just
released a set of FAQs on the new SOLAS rules and these will also be discussed during the conference.
Bigger ships and higher concentrations of cargo are putting infrastructure, operational and administrative processes under pressure, most notably at port nodes and other key hand-off points along the chain. Sessions at this year’s events will assess how the various stakeholders should deal with this new reality, looking at operational challenges at the ship-port and port-hinterland interface as well as along end-to-end chains. Other focus areas will include dangerous goods management in the wake of the Tianjin disaster, plus how emergency response, salvage and ports of refuge need to adapt to cope with future incidents involving larger ships and cargo blocks.
Training and technology are also on the agenda, with a session devoted to “Building Smarter, Safer Supply Chains.” Speakers will include Andrew Francis, Director of DP World Institute – the newly-launched independent training wing of DP World – who will look at emerging technology and techniques for training the next generation of port personnel on a global basis. Joining him will be Richard Morton, Secretary General of the International Port Community Systems Association (IPCSA) who will look at cyber security challenges as the industry digitises.
“In order to develop solutions for the rapid changes faced by the industry, it is crucial to engage all the supply chain members and to take a global perspective. Container and cargo safety are a shared responsibility and now more than ever before require robust cross-party dialogue and understanding,” said Capt. Richard Brough, ICHCA International’s Technical Adviser . “As the global NGO for cargo handling, ICHCA is delighted to stage this international event, bringing all the interested parties together to discuss common challenges and map out pragmatic responses.”
The high-level event will feature two days of conference sessions and a site visit to the Port of Barcelona, one of the Mediterranean’s
largest and most diverse cargo handling and logistics hubs. There will also be extensive networking opportunities including two drinks receptions.