EP5: Stirring the Melting Pot

Following IMO Maritime Safety Committee (MSC 104) in October 2021, consideration was given to IAPH’s submission outlining the recently finalised version of the Cybersecurity Guidelines for Ports and Port Facilities and calling for its inclusion in the next version of the IMO Guidelines on Maritime Cyber Risk Management. Its chair, Mayte Medina (United States), proposed a request to the secretariat to update the IMO guidelines, subject to agreement at the next meeting of the Facilitation Committee (FAL 46) that is due to take place in May 2022. Gene Seroka, the executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, and Patrick Verhoeven, managing director of the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH), discussed the congestion issues the maritime industry faces, digitalization, and the way forward. Speakers: Gene Seroka - Executive Director, Port of Los Angeles Patrick Verhoeven - Managing Director, International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH) Ines Nastali - Senior Custom Publishing Editor, S&P Global Market Intelligence Gene Seroka is the executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, the busiest container port in North America. Throughout the pandemic, Seroka – who lived in China during the 2002-2004 SARS epidemic – has led the port’s response to the global health crisis, keeping cargo flowing as an essential service to the nation. Seroka has distinguished himself as a leader throughout his 33-year career in shipping, global logistics and executive management. He holds an MBA and Bachelor of Science in Marketing from the University of New Orleans. Patrick Verhoeven is the managing director of the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH), responsible for policy and strategy. The organisation represents about 170 ports and some 140 port-related businesses in 90 countries worldwide. Prior to joining IAPH in 2017, Patrick spent twenty-four years in Brussels representing the interests of shipowners, port authorities, terminal operators and ship agents at EU level. He started his career in 1991 with the Antwerp-based ship agent Grisar & Velge. Patrick holds a PhD in applied economics and a bachelor’s in law from the University of Antwerp. Ines Nastali joined IHS Markit (now S&P Global) at the London headquarters in September 2018 as the editor of Dredging and Ports Construction magazine before taking over as editor of Ports & Harbors, the membership publication of the International Association of Ports and Harbors. She is responsible for the delivery of a bi-monthly magazine, always on the lookout for the latest market trends in order to keep readers informed, as well as the supplement production for all maritime publications. Making use of her experience in multi-media and data-driven storytelling, her focus for the company's maritime publications portfolio has been to establish the utilisation of IHS Markit's rich dredging, port and maritime data and to translate those datasets into interactive and print visualisations to give an insight into fleet data, port infrastructure developments and shipbuilding trends as well as casualty incidents. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in technical journalism from the Hochschule Bremen, Germany, and a Master of Arts in science journalism from London's City University.