Karen Oldfield, President and CEO, Halifax Port Authority

https://www.portofhalifax.ca
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Karen Oldfield

Containerized cargo shipping along the east coast of North America is on the cusp of major transformation. Ultra-class vessels of more than 10,000-TEU capacity have started to arrive, and with that, landside operations are quickly evolving to accommodate this development.

This is happening for several reasons. The shipping industry has been moving toward larger vessels for scale over the past few years. Alliances among the various shipping companies are also a factor. With the widening of the Panama Canal and the additional lane of the Suez Canal, those vessels are now being deployed along the east coast of North America. The completion of the Bayonne Bridge project in New York will accelerate that transformation.

Shipping routes are being redrawn, and supply chains are being realigned. Intermodal connectivity between ports, logistics redistribution centers, and the customer, regardless of where that customer might be, is being examined for gains in efficiency and productivity. Increasingly, those gains are coming from increased emphasis placed on data management and the ability to transfer information quickly or in real time.

Critical mass will increasingly play a factor in where new infrastructure is developed and/or deployed. Full-service ports able to accommodate a wide range of industry requirements including vessel repair and servicing supported by an experienced workforce will be better positioned to take part in this ongoing transformation.

These changes are taking place at a tremendous rate. The industry we see today is significantly different than the one we saw 10 years ago, and we know the next 10 years will be even more transformative.