IAPH joins Indian Ports at the Indian Maritime University’s first International Ports Conclave

CHENNAI : IAPH and Port of Antwerp-Bruges International host Port Endeavor gameplay for port authority executives and students on last Friday, at the Chennai campus of the Indian Maritime University. IAPH participated in the first ever International Conclave hosted by IMU and which featured numerous dignitaries, including the Secretary of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways and IMU Vice Chancellor as well as the Consul General of Belgium to India and leading port authorities of India.

Under the theme “Ports and Terminals: Crisis and Disaster Management – Policies and Strategies”, the conclave brought together government, port authorities, academics, logistics innovators from the Indian maritime community with students at the Indian Maritime University to discuss and learn from one another about how to apply UN Sustainability Goals in practice and how to improve global ports resilience in relentlessly challenging times.

Chief Guest Honorable Secretary T K Ramachandran of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways opened the conclave in a live feed from New Delhi with numerous dignitaries in attendance offering welcome speeches, including Guest of Honor Frank Geerkens (HE Consul General of Belgium) and Vice Chancellor Dr. Malini Shankar who presided over the event.

The main session of the IAPH Port Endeavor sustainable business game took place immediately afterwards, with senior executives from six Indian port authorities joining IMU students on the stage. The gameplay and conclave were also transmitted to all IMU campuses throughout India.

Consul General for Belgium Frank Geerkens commented on his LinkedIn account “The Port Endeavor games challenged several groups of port managers in an exciting and engaging way to compete – and, more important, to educate – on sustainability in the port sector. The second part of the Conclave were panel discussions with senior management from the port sector on crisis and disaster management in ports and terminals, with an engaging participation by Port of Antwerp-Bruges International professionals Koen Cornilly and Achille Sobry. It was a joy to participate, to thank the organisers and all participants for the close collaboration between the port and maritime sectors of India and Belgium, and to engage with all.”

In the second afternoon session which was focused on navigating towards resilience, moderator Ennarasu Kanuresan (IAPH Regional representative for India) set the context with a summary of the major events that have happened since the pandemic and how they have impacted global supply chain resilience. There was then a transmission by IAPH Technical Committee Chair Niels Vanlaer (Harbour Master of the Port of Antwerp-Bruges) who explained how IAPH member ports developed the first edition of Risk and Resilience guidelines for ports, with further interventions from senior Indian executives from port and maritime authorities as well as the National Institute of Disaster Management.

Strategy and Communications Director Victor Shieh commented: “The conclave was a great success thanks to the major efforts led by IMU Director Amit Bose, his team of academics and administrative assistants in setting up the programme and venue. This was done in close collaboration with both the Port of Antwerp-Bruges representative to India Daljit Singh and of course our IAPH colleague Ennarasu Karunesan. The most satisfying aspect of the conclave was the active engagement and enthusiasm of the IMU students who helped make this a memorable occasion for everyone who was involved.”