Page 18: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (January 2022)

Insurance Insights

WTW Launches

Forum to Mitigate

Growing Port,

Terminal Risk © Freshidea/AdobeStock

By Ben Abraham, CEO, Global Marine, Willis Towers Watson orts and terminal operators are entering a new era ports to slow in the post-COVID economy; it predicted that the where the operational threats they face – both old pace of expansion will fall by at least 40% in the next ? ve years.

and new – will make a return to ‘business as usu- According to Deloitte, with less suitable land available for al’ increasingly unlikely, even once the pandemic expansion, container ports will transition to investment strate-

P ? nally subsides. gies that increase the productivity of existing spaces, support

Transition to new technologies and digitally enabled sys- operational sustainability (in response to regulatory and social tems, addressing the impact of climate change, defending demand for lower carbon footprints) and increase collaboration against cyberattacks and shifting geopolitics will couple with between ports.

traditional supply chain and operational risks to change the This implies an accelerated adoption of the kind of ‘smart’ face of the sector. technologies that help operators to better understand the op-

According to Global Port Trends 2030, Deloitte’s most erational impact of past events and better predict the impact recent report on the sector, the competitive position of port of future ones.

stakeholders and their ecosystems will be altered signi? cantly The adoption of new ‘smart’ technology will be a primary from today’s models. facilitator of the transition to a more productive future, but

As competition for prime land near consumer markets in- these solutions will not come without adding risks: every de- tensi? es, the emphasis for operators is increasingly shifting vice that connects to a port’s digital community represents a from expansion to improving operational ef? ciency on the new entry point for the ill-intentioned into mission-critical existing waterfront. operating systems.

In one snapshot of how that will play out, global shipping Recent reports seem to indicate that cybercriminals – par- consultancy Drewry recently forecast investment in container ticularly those using ransomware – have discovered what we 18 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • January 2022

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