Shipping Australia attended the Safe & Efficient Port Operations Forum in September, which was this year held at the Overseas Passenger Terminal, Circular Quay, in Sydney. The event was very well attended with over 150 people present. Following the same format as the previous year, the event provided a wide ranging overview of port-related matters.
John Finch, COO of the Port Authority of NSW kicked off proceedings with an overview of various matters that have arisen throughout the year. He briefly ran through the renewal of Towage licences, and he also disused the implementation of the OnePort system. OnePort is expected to complete in early 2025. Details on the activities of the Port Authority can be found here.
Philipp Borquin of the Port of Newcastle and Jonathan Lafforuge of NSW Ports both gave an introductory overview of trade, and operational matters (e.g. dredging at Newcastle) at their respective ports. Port of Newcastle trade data can be found here and NSW Ports data can be found here.
A session on pilotage was then given by pilot Josephine Clark of Port Kembla, who gave a case study on an incident in Newcastle in which a vessel nearly allided with a breakwater. Ms Clark also discussed maintenance issues, ladder regulations, and workforce training.
Simon Robards of AMSA discussed Port State Control Statistics, details of which can be found on the AMSA website.
Dylan Sheehan of Svitzer discussed workforce aging and the need to support aging workers. He also talked of decarbonisation and referred to the “three pillars” of decarbonisation – new behaviour (sailing at 8 knots which is most fuel-efficient for tugs); new equipment (i.e. referring to Svitzer’s new transverse tugs); and new fuel, in this case, biodiesel.
Sister Mary of Stella Maris spent some time talking of seafarer welfare, commenting that being a seafarer is like being in prison with with an added chance of drowning. She told delegates that seafaers may “save up” reporting their problems until they arrive in Australia.
Lawrie Corda, Deputy Harbour Master Sydney / Botany, gave an overview of vessel movements at Sydney Harbour. Dave Jordan, Business Advisory at Lloyd’s Register, talked of decarbonisation, net zero, regulations, fuel infrastructure and the like.
Ashleigh Madden, Meterologist at Weatherzone, talked of the impacts of forthcoming weather on ports & shipping. The La Nina (which typically results in cold wet Australian weather) / El Nino (hot dry Australian weather) Cycle was neutral in September, but was arguably trending toward a La Nina situation with 3 out of 7 models are pointing toward La Nina, while the other four were neutral. La Nina in Australia tends toward the occurrence of heavy rain, flooding, and a reduction of risk of extreme heat. The Indian Ocean Dipole, another important weather system for Australia, is neutral and does not appear to be much impacting Australian weather this year. Sudden Stratospheric warming (i.e. 30 to 40km above the surface) causes changes to a variety of weather systems ultimately resulting in gusty windy weather.
The Southern Annual Modulation has this year has led to lots of strong winds and, this year, over warmer seas (so lots of air-moisture) leading to rain. April to June over SA lots of high pressure blocking lots of cold fronts moving over SA, led to record dry weather. Complexity in this year’s weather. Sea Surface Temperatures are much warmer this year than previous; warm oceans surrounding country are adding moisture which will fuel rain and thunderstorms. Spring to summer may see the Southern Annual Modulation trend to positive which would reduce winds.
In summary: there is likely to be higher rainfall and possibly flooding over the Australian East Coast this spring / summer. Landscape is quite wet from the winter, so higher possibility of flooding. Possibly a reduction, on average, of winds (but that doesn’t mean no winds). As temperatures increase, higher risk of storms and, as time goes by, a higher risk damaging winds.
