Obtain the data you need to make the most informed decisions by accessing our extensive portfolio of information, analytics, and expertise. Sign in to the product or service center of your choice.
Discussions around the cause for the congestion issue the
maritime industry faces are heating up fast. Digitalization and
collaboration among the supply chain are two key ingredients of
Gene Seroka's recipe to tackle this. The executive director of the
Port of Los Angeles and Patrick Verhoeven, managing director of the
IAPH, discussed the way forward.
How the shipping industry works with the cargo side and ports is
something Gene Seroka, executive director at the Port of Los
Angeles, thinks about a lot — especially amid the waterways
congestion issues some parts of the world currently face. "What
we're witnessing here in the US is a pandemic-induced buying surge
by the US consumer that we've never seen before," Seroka told
P&H in a conversation with the managing director of the IAPH,
Patrick Verhoeven. While people followed stay-at-home orders in the
US, commerce plummeted in mid-2020. In Los Angeles, businesses
dropped by about 19% in the first five months of 2020, and then
started to surge."
It is all connected
The pandemic was just another stressor on the supply chain, Gene
added. "Because of ill-advised trade policy in Washington from the
previous administration, our exports continued melting pot to
plummet. At the Port of Los Angeles, our exports have been down 29
out of the last 33 months."
He therefore cautions against attributing the situation to
having a single cause. "When folks try to categorize the industry
as having problems based on port congestion, I think instead we
need to look at the entire supply chain." He added that, "I think
it should be a dialogue within the industry and with elected
officials and policy makers as well. There's a lot to be excited
about right now, but we've got to categorize this properly to make
sure that our voices are heard."
Digital way forward
One of the developments Gene is excited about is advancing the
digital infrastructure of the supply chain. "Unfortunately, we are
decades behind our colleagues in Europe, Asia, the Middle East,"
said Gene, adding that he has worked all over the world and
witnessed what digitalization means to port communities and supply
chain participants.
"Because we have the ability as ports to affect change, we talk
to so many people, we have so much access at the C-Suite level in
our industry, that ports are a natural repository for all this
information and have the ability to advance our industries
technological capabilities," he added.
"I very much subscribe to what Gene said that the port
authorities are somewhere in the middle of all the action," said
IAPH managing director Patrick. Within this melting pot is a small
group of trailblazers that play an important role. "Basically, when
it comes to data sharing, we have ports around the world that are
very advanced like LA and I would also mention ports such as
Barcelona, Hamburg, Singapore among others. So, I think to broaden
the knowledge from that relatively small group of leading ports and
to share that with the wider communities, that's our role as
IAPH."
He is echoed by Gene, "It's really about leadership. And whether
it be former IAPH president Santiago Garcia-Milà from the Port of
Barcelona, Jens Meier from the Hamburg Port Authority, Tang Chong
Meng from the PSA, and Ley Hoon Quah from Singapore. These are
folks that have that vision, and, for the record, we have done our
level best to overcome objections in this area by creating data,
sharing agreements, legal documents that permit data sharing within
the confines of that mutual respect and leadership."
Looking out for risks
Gene also values being self-sufficient over being regulated.
"It's my belief that we have advanced further in our industry with
voluntary measures than with the hammer of regulation."
The above article is an excerpt from the cover interview of
Ports & Harbors magazine, September/October 2021. Ports &
Harbors is the membership publication of the International
Association of Ports & Harbors.
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.
Subscribe to Maritime and Trade Talk podcast for the latest
insight and opinion on trends shaping the shipping industry from
trusted shipping experts.
