It was a great day yesterday, Thursday 18 August, at Safe & Efficient Port Operations Forum, which was organised and hosted by the Port Authority of New South Wales.
More than 150 people from across a wide range of sectors in New South Wales – regulators, ports, government officials, towage, harbour masters, line boats and more attended the forum.
A wide range of topics were addressed include port performance, container port throughput, marine safety incidents around the world, Port State Control, the role of fuel within a supply chain; how to improve port performance, decarbonisation of fuel and the impacts of weather on port operations.
There were many interesting highlights during the day.
Attendees watched with appalled interest as the towage providers and pilots took the audience through some major accidents. No-one will ever forget the sight of a giant quay crane flopping over the stern end of a ship as if it were made of damp spaghetti after a berthing operation got out of control the crane and ship made contact.
We all learned about just how strong bow thrusters are on the bigger ships as the underwater forces generated by a cruise ship demolished several mooring dolphins without making physical contact.
A fascinating discussion took place on decarbonisation and green fuels. It is clear that policy action is needed now to help the industry decarbonise.
The venue was the Prince Henry Convention Centre at Little Bay which provided delegates with spectacular views on a beautiful, sunny, day. A delicious buffet lunch, along with a choice of seafood, chicken or vegetarian paella, was served.
