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Ports & Storage November/December 2019 chainPORT drives digital transformation C hainPORT, a multilateral partnership of some major ports, held its fifth annual meeting on 16-17 September hosted by Port of Montreal, Canada. Presidents, CIOs and head strategists of 11 ports gathered to continue to close the collaboration of recent years. While welcoming delegates to the event, Sylvie Vachon, president and CEO of the Montreal Port Authority, said: “After participating in the chainPORT Hackathon and hosting the chainPORT Academy last year, we are very proud to host the fifth edition of the AGM. We see our membership of chainPORT as significant in facilitating and accelerating our digital transformation by tapping into a very rich pool of knowledge and expertise.” Montreal is well positioned to hold such discussions, with its stated ambition to become a global hub in artificial intelligence. While the overarching theme of the meeting was ‘innovation ecosystems’, Vachon continued by saying: “We are confident that by the end of the event, delegates got a true sense of what makes Montreal a unique model and a true North American leader in innovation.” In Montreal, the discussions were centred on the need for supply chains to become more predictable in serving customers. The insights from invited key international cargo interests confirmed that deliverables under chainPORT must align with expectations of cargo owners and port users as the manufacturing industry simultaneously undergoes digital transformation. Gene Seroka, executive director of Port of Los Angeles emphasised: “Faced with increasing trade headwinds, our customers more than ever look at ports for answers. With its spirit of collaboration, chainPORT comes as a timely solution to deepen coordination with the aim of making the supply chain more transparent and reliable.” Following several high profile cyber-attacks in the industry in recent years, chainPORT partners showcased results of joint efforts during the meeting and decided to deepen their collaboration in this field. After the meeting Jens Meier, CEO of Hamburg Port Authority, said: “In terms of cyber security, over the past year chainPORT helped galvanise our efforts and it is precisely in this global challenge that we can greatly benefit from our joint know-how.” A priority on this year’s agenda was accelerating the smart adoption of artificial intelligence in the port sector. The technology holds tremendous potential to further optimise processes and Advertisers Index Continental Disc 16 CTW Cleaning 9 Dacro 17 Fort Vale Engineering 11 Globalstar Europe 6 GPCA 18 Gröninger Cleaning Systems 9 Intermodal Events 14 Intermodal Telematics 13 ITCO 20 Joint Tank Services 10 Kanoo Tank Services 8 Klinge Corporation 3 Lohia 2 MRI Software 7 NTTank 5 Pelican Worldwide 12 Rishi 15 Scully Signal 1 For information on advertising contact us on: [phone] Published 6 times a year. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is strictly prohibited . ISSN 1462-0731 Events Intermodal Europe 5-7 November 2019 Hamburg, Germany www.intermodal-events.com ECTA Annual Meeting 2019 14 November 2019 Düsseldorf, Germany www.ecta.com ITCO Asia Regional Meeting 27 November 2019 Shanghai, China www.international-tank-container. org The Annual GPCA Forum 3-5 December 2019 Dubai, UAE gpcaforum.net increase efficiency in ports. This was supported by an exchange of the chainPORT representatives with Professor Yoshua Bengio, one of the world’s leading researchers in the field of artificial intelligence and deep learning. During a visit at the O-Mile-X, North America’s largest artificial intelligence lab, Dr Bengio elaborated in practical terms how artificial intelligence can advance the collective innovation agenda of the maritime industry in tackling complex logistical problems. With port authorities being largely responsible for facilitating the adoption of emerging technologies, Professor Bengio’s intervention was inspiring and critical in bringing a balanced view bridging social, ethical and technological aspects of artificial intelligence. “The insights of Yoshua Bengio illustrated the hitherto barely used possibilities of artificial intelligence,” said Jens Meier. “However, as port authorities we must reasonably and responsibly adopt this technology to thrive in the digital era.” Vopak invests in Colombian LNG site R oyal Vopak has bought a 49 percent stake in Sociedad Portuaria el Cayao (SPEC) in Cartagena, Colombia. SPEC is the only LNG import facility in Colombia and has been in operation since 2016. The LNG import facility consists of an LNG jetty, onshore infrastructure and a 9.2km gas pipeline which connects SPEC to the national gas grid. A chartered FSRU is receiving the LNG and sending the gas on shore. SPEC holds long term contracts with three local gas-fired power plants. The shareholders in SPEC are Promigas (51 Publisher: Mike Reardon, [email protected], Tel: [phone] Managing Editor: Neil Madden, [email protected], Tel: [phone] Advertising Director: Anne Williams, [email protected], Tel: [phone] Circulation: Berni Chetham, [email protected], Tel: [phone] © Ashley & Dumville Publishing Bulk Distributor is published by Ashley & Dumville Publishing www.bulk-distributor.com 19 Montreal hosted the fifth chainPORT annual meeting Logichem 17-19 March 2020 Rotterdam, Netherlands https://logichem.wbresearch.com Caledonian House, Tatton Street, Knutsford, Cheshire WA16 6AG, United Kingdom B ULK D ISTRIBUTOR SPEC is the only LNG import facility in Colombia. A chartered FSRU receives the LNG and sends the gas on shore percent) and Royal Vopak (49 percent). Eelco Hoekstra, Vopak’s chairman and CEO, said: “We are very much looking forward to this partnership with Promigas and to enter into the growing Colombian LNG market. This is another growth step in our LNG portfolio and it fits very well in our ambitions to grow and diversify our service offering in LNG.” Promigas is a private company in the Latin American natural gas sector with 45 years of experience providing mass access to natural gas. www.vopak.com