As much as individual ports may differ, major changes in the world shipping market have required changes in how all ports view themselves and their competitive positions.  By Richard Steinke, Moffatt & Nichol For many of us in the maritime industry, the old adage, “When you’ve seen one port, you’ve seen one port!” is certainly true. As delegates come to ...

Winning Is Not the Same as Succeeding — AAPA’s Spring Conference began this year on the night of the NCAA men’s basketball championship. For sports fans, it was the best kind of game – two well-matched teams playing high caliber basketball in a close game that didn’t break toward the winner until nearly the end. North Carolina went home elated ...

The easiest way to pull the rug out from under a port’s success is to ignore stakeholders. Seaports need informed, supportive allies to set the stage for almost any project or initiative. By Lori Musser The easiest way to pull the rug out from under a port’s success is to ignore stakeholders. Seaports need informed, supportive allies to set the ...

Maintaining coastal property for maritime activities is critical to ports’ success and requires ports to find allies and partners in other levels of government, the community and the private sector to succeed. By Candace Gibson It’s a delicate balance to maintain a working waterfront and nurture relationships with parties who want a piece of valuable maritime real estate. Ports are ...

Mentoring and teaching the next generation of leaders should be a simple progression if you’ve started the process early and have a plan in place. That is where succession planning comes in. By Sandy Smith A decade or so ago, Gary LaGrange was sitting in a long-term strategic planning session, looking around the room of senior managers and assistant senior ...

Coordination among port police and technology personnel is critical for physical and cybersecurity, and partnerships between ports, terminal operators and others are necessary for successful security. By Barry Parker Security continues to be an important concern throughout the maritime world, with the challenges steadily broadening throughout all touchpoints for industrial supply chains or passenger movements through ports. The security scope ...

Security measures are much different than 20 years ago, and as we experience and deal with new threats, we must take the lessons learned and build on that framework. By Albio Sires (NJ-08) Safety at our country’s ports is not only essential to our economy but critical to our national security. Each day ships arrive at our shores carrying cargo ...

Effective cyber-risk governance does not require a degree in computer science. However, an understanding of the dynamics of cyber-vulnerability can assist directors in setting protection priorities and overseeing contingency and remediation plans. By Art Linton The frequency and severity of maritime cyber-attacks increases every year. Often, damage is ongoing and not discovered for years. A cyber-attack on the port of ...

The port industry understands it can’t continue to depend on on-the-job training alone to prepare the next generation of leaders for the significant responsibilities they will assume. By Erik Stromberg, Lamar University Generations of port industry leaders have bemoaned the fact that the only way to learn how to manage a port was to manage a port. However, on-the-job training ...

La forma más sencilla de quitarle sustento al éxito de un puerto es ignorar a los grupos de interés. Los puertos marítimos necesitan aliados informados, que les apoyen a preparar el terreno para casi cualquier proyecto o iniciativa. La forma en que un puerto define a los grupos de interés, identifica a los promotores y agitadores, fortalece la comunicación de ...