Korean ports win three out of the six categories; Argentinian Puerto Dock Sud wins Community Outreach, Canadian Port of Halifax picks up Digitalization and island Port of Santa Cruz De Tenerife wins Climate and Energy Award
IAPH 2023 World Ports Conference, Abu Dhabi, 1 November
IAPH is delighted to have announced the winners of the #IAPH2023 Sustainability Awards during this evening’s official gala dinner of the IAPH World Ports Conference in Abu Dhabi.
IAPH Managing Director Patrick Verhoeven commented : “With 86 projects submitted from 50 ports from 28 different countries in 2023, we warmly congratulate all five ports who have been selected by both our expert jury and over 4000 members of the voting public as winners in their categories. Four out of the five ports win their IAPH Sustainability Award for the first time, which illustrates the real diversity of projects from new ports and countries received this year”
Climate and Energy Winner – Port Authority of Santa Cruz de Tenerife – Port ZERO
Tenerife Port ZERO incorporates a wide range of environmental stewardship and energy efficiency projects, including offshore wind and fuel cell power, circular economy and zero carbon fuel generation through production of green hydrogen using electrolysis. This includes an onshore power masterplan, which enables shoreside power supply to vessels during docking.
The jury found that while Tenerife Port ZERO is at an early stage, the concept, details and pathway were convincing and backed-up by detailed explanations and examples, as well as having multiple actions already implemented.
Community Building Winner – Puerto Dock Sud – Gender equality — Train for work program
This initiative has the aim to support better employability for women in the maritime industry and in doing so, reduce the gap between men and women working in the port environment. Following the success of the initial program which included skilled shipyard work, a second round has taken place in 2023.
The jury believed this as a good way to train the next generation of port workers that increased the female workforce from 20% to 35% and supports the high conversion rate.
Digitalization winner : Halifax Port Authority – DEF2
By integrating data from cargo handling and transport, operations, and other factors in an accurate and interoperable system, this project builds an assessment of CO2e intensity associated with operations showing per container and per metric ton amounts of carbon. Halifax Port Authority has partnered with BlueNode, Inc., PSA Global, Port Saint John, Canada’s Ocean Supercluster and Sentient Hubs to implement this AI platform to bring about effective CO2e mitigation strategies.
The jury commended the comprehensive near real-time emissions monitoring and mitigation as well as the timely concept and clear framework design that included tackling multiple UN SDGs in collaboration with several stakeholders from the industry and ports abroad.
Environmental Care winner – Yeosu Gwangyang Port Authority – Marine plastic collection and utilization network
To protect the environment and create social value, Yeosu Gwangyang Port Authority launched Korea’s first marine plastic collection and utilization network in December 2020. It has established a full circular economy system for marine waste plastics, by applying circular economy to the entire process, from the collection of marine plastics to sorting, crushing, washing, drying, creating recycled pellets, then polyester yarn. This is used to make bags, clothing and other useful products.
The jury thought that circular economy projects should be considered an essential part of port operations; however, as this is not the case yet, this project is commendable with a good practice example.
Infrastructure winner – Busan Port Authority – Recycling of aggregates for construction
The construction of Busan New Port and redeveloping Busan North Port demands the use of massive amounts of aggregates like gravel, sand, and crushed concrete, across a total area of 13 million square meters. The continual mining of natural resources was not a viable option, and therefore Busan port embarked on this initiative to ensure that 100% of recycled construction waste aggregates are used.
The jury said the project delivers on all fronts – there is innovation in reusing construction material, it saves money, has a reduced environmental impact, includes community and stakeholder relations, and is self-regulated.
Health Safety and Security winner -Yeosu Gwangyang Port Authority – Keeping port workers healthy
In 2021, the Gwangyang Port Health Care Center opened, expanding the number of health beneficiaries at the Gwangyang Port Health Management Office from 228 people in 2021 to 1,265 people in 2022, and improving the health of a total of 177 workers through follow-up management of cerebrovascular and musculoskeletal diseases.
The jury commented on the project’s broad context of health, safety and environment with components relevant to individuals, society and port area, evidenced by action and achievements.
At the gala dinner, IAPH also presented the Akiyama Award which is in memory of one of IAPH founding fathers Toru Akiyama, who was Secretary-General of IAPH from 1967 to 1973. Originally an essay competition open to young port talent, the Award now goes to the highest placed IAPH Sustainability Awards finalist runner-up from a Least Developed Country, a Landlocked Developing Country or a Small Island Developing State.
Akiyama award winner – Fiji Ports – Pathway towards a smart and green port
Fiji Ports has implemented port procurement sustainability guidelines to ensure informed procurement decisions prioritizing sustainability and reducing environmental impact. In its Masterplan, Fiji Ports has also established an Energy Tracker and Green Port dashboard providing an overview of the progress made in implementing its initiatives.
Special IAPH recognitions for three exemplary individuals
To conclude the gala awards, three distinguished individuals received recognition for their outstanding contributions to the Association and were granted lifelong Honorary Membership of IAPH.
The first was for Kitack Lim, outgoing Secretary General of the IMO. The IMO’s increased collaboration with IAPH under his leadership has brought ports closer to shipping and the IMO Member States, which culminated in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the IMO and IAPH last July. The agreement contains a wide-ranging plan for joint developments of tools and solutions to accelerate the energy transition, data collaboration and improve resilience of the maritime sector.
The second, which was presented by incoming IAPH President Jens Meir, was for the outgoing IAPH President Captain K. Subranamiam. Known to colleagues as Subra, he has presided over the Association during which time the IAPH-WPSP COVID19 Taskforce continued supporting ports around the world, and during which time the technical committees introduced key submissions to the IMO relating to the role ports play in maritime decarbonization and digitalization. During his tenure, IAPH has made significant steps forward in collaborating beyond the ports membership with shipping, regulators, UN agencies and development banks.
The third was for Robin Silvester, the outgoing IAPH Regional Vice President for North America and former CEO of Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, who played an active part in the IAPH Board and who hosted the IAPH World Ports Conference last year in Vancouver, Canada.
Managing Director Patrick Verhoeven commented: “All three have played key roles in the upward trend of ports and associate members joining IAPH, with both their endorsement and active support of the new IAPH work program and the closer collaboration with the IMO on trade facilitation, security and marine environment protection.”
Contact :
Victor Shieh, IAPH Communications Director – victor.shieh@iaphworldports.org
About IAPH
Founded in 1955, the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH) has developed into a global alliance of 180 port authorities as well as 148 port-related businesses. Comprised of 84 different nationalities across the world’s continents, member ports handle approximately one third of the world’s sea-borne trade and well over 60% of the world container traffic. IAPH leads global port industry initiatives on decarbonization and energy transition, risk and resilience management, and accelerating digitalization in the maritime transport chain. The IAPH’s World Ports Sustainability Program has grown into the reference database of best practices of ports applying the UN Sustainable Development Goals and integrating them into their businesses – www.iaphworldports.org.