The International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH) is inviting ports to take part in a survey for its new World Ports Tracker to aid ports detecting trends early on and enhance resilience.
The community is invited to respond to eight questions on a quarterly basis, commencing on 1 June with a deadline of 17 June for Q2 2022.
The first in-depth report will then be written by IAPH’s experts Professors Theo Notteboom and Thanos Pallis and sent to IAPH member participants and survey respondees three weeks later in early July.
The cycle will then be repeated with further reports expected on Q3 2022 in October and Q4 2022 in the early new year.
IAPH has disclosed that a regular contribution to the IAPH member flagship magazine Ports & Harbors will elaborate on the non-survey part of the tracker exercise, namely quarterly container port statistics based on S&P Global Port Performance Program data.
In future editions the regular article will also provide a summary of the main findings of the previous quarter, with additional sources being referenced.
The first eight questions in the survey will focus on number of cargo vessel calls expected, current hinterland transport conditions, current capacity utilisation of warehouses/ distribution facilities, cargo throughput expectations, cruise and passenger vessel call size and frequency and staff availability.
Three additional yearly questions will then follow, focusing on planned investments, potential capacity extensions or terminal upgrades, and any major changes foreseen in land use.
IAPH has assured the community that information obtained will be treated in a confidential manner and only aggregated data will be published. No reference will be made to individual ports.
The news follows the official launch of the tracker in May.
The tracker aims to guide ports and stakeholders in their efforts to improve services by collecting a combination of fresh data and feedback from the world ports community.
Key information from ports regarding information on call volumes, status of warehousing capacity, and hinterland connectivity will be interlinked and combined with expectations on cargo and passenger throughput as well as vessel calls.
Last year, the IAPH called upon stakeholders to collaborate more closely and improve maritime infrastructure.
