Closing the Gaps - Digitalization - Transportation

The International Association of Ports & Harbors (IAPH) has recently published its summary report “Closing the Gaps," highlighting key actions in digitalization, decarbonization and resilience the maritime sector.”[1] IAPH defines and identifies the principal gaps in port and port-related infrastructure on a global scale. These gaps were identified in terms of efficiency, connectivity and accessibility, digitalization, decarbonization, shipping costs and regulatory environment.

The report serves as serves as a basis for action plans in collaboration with the World Bank Group (WBG), with input from 85 maritime and logistics executives from 35 countries. “Back in 2021 our outgoing and incoming IAPH presidents concurred that ports were not prepared for the pandemic-affected, extreme swings in demand and their impact on the maritime transport chain,” wrote the WBG’s Managing Director. “This was principally due to long-term under-investment in port and port-related infrastructure. So, we took the decision to define and identify, on a global level, the principal infrastructure gaps and to envisage a concrete plan, along with the World Bank, to close those gaps. We are grateful to the global maritime and transport community for responding so openly and enthusiastically to this exercise.”[2]

Over a three-month period in early 2022, eight regional workshops were conducted in partnership with the World Bank under the Chatham House rule between shippers, forwarders, container carriers, shipowners, Non-Vessel-Operating Common Carrier (NVOCCs), shipping agencies, digital innovators, terminal operators, port authorities, consultants, real estate experts, leading maritime academics and financing institutions. The eight workshops were moderated by transport specialists from the World Bank, said the maritime media experts and IAPH’s Communications Director. Findings on the gaps and how to resolve them were then summarized and discussed at eight regional forums which took place in person in May at the IAPH2022 World Ports Conference in Vancouver, Canada. The result of this exercise is now reflected in IAPH’s report.

One intriguing element of the report highlights port automation investment and its contrasts from greenfield to brownfield sites.[3] Typically, what a greenfield project entails is development on a completely vacant site. Architects start completely from scratch. A brownfield project is one that carries constraints related to the current state of the site. “Efforts to improve port efficiency through automation vary considerably between regions of the world and are impacted by their location, labor skillsets and labor regulatory environments,” the report wrote.

A Close the Gaps exercise identified several examples of greenfield sites successfully deploying automation processes (cyber) for cargo handling at the ship-shore interface and between the quayside and the port gates. However, achieving significant productivity improvements at brownfield sites has proved more challenging, with an absence of labor skillsets and the resistance to change by the workforce, evidenced during the current labor contract negotiations ongoing on the US West Coast, for example.

For those ports located in cities with limited options to expand capacity, combining investments in labor and a pragmatic combination of automated and skilled labor processes may offer a path forward to meet future demand,” the report wrote. “This report indicates the activities and potential sources of assistance available to ports in the client countries of the World Bank in the key priority “gap” areas of resilience, digitalization and decarbonization,” commented the Lead Transport Economist, World Bank. “This will become part of the ongoing reform of the World Bank Port Reform Toolkit, which is being undertaken by the World Bank and IAPH.” In July, IAPH produced the first dashboard and report for its World Ports Tracker.

This is the first report of its kind, aiming to track critical aspects in the global port industry based on cargo and shipping trends at a time when the global supply chain is facing unprecedented challenges. Cyber security is an integral part of both new and current port operations, as IT/OT is the status quo and the future. These cyber touch points all present realistic gaps in supply chain security. Our past Vessel Impersonation reports have clearly shown that bad actors at all levels of the hacker tier parameters are spoofing vessels and trying to phish and attack multiple points along the supply chain. Maritime ports being just one point(s) along the vital global commerce chain.

Red Sky Alliance is a Cyber Threat Analysis and Intelligence Service organization. For questions, comments or assistance, please contact the office directly at 1-844-492-7225, or feedback@wapacklabs.com

Weekly Cyber Intelligence Briefings: