We open this issue with the gala dinner celebrating events where management, staff, stakeholders and friends came together to continue to celebrate the group’s 50th anniversary.

One of the bright spots in global shipping is the rise of cold chain and how the sector is expanding, we shine a light on why demand is growing and how shippers, carriers and ports are investing in reefer technology both at sea and on land.

The futuristic dream of automated vehicles is given a test drive in this issue with port operators at the forefront of moving concepts off the drawing board with promising results.

Building a digital ports network has long been a vision in the industry and now leading ports are taking the first steps to create a worldwide digital platform to deliver real-time advanced information to carriers about berthing times, weather and tides, delays and equipment availability.

We will take a closer look at how space age technology is now being harnessed to build digital twins in the supply chain which enables the creation of a data generated ‘mirror’ of actual operations and how it may benefit the maritime and logistics industry.

GMD UPFRONT MESSAGE

In these few years, we have been focusing our efforts on cost efficiency by working smart and improving workflows. As we have just reached our 50th anniversary milestone, I am pleased to say we are now well-positioned to reap the rewards of those rigorous efforts. We have become a lean, efficient and result-oriented organisation.

HUTCHISON PORTS CELEBRATES LANDMARK ANNIVERSARY

Half a century after welcoming our first ship to our berth on Hong Kong’s waterfront, Hutchison Ports is now a global port investor, developer and operator with a cumulative global throughput of 1.3 billion TEU. To illustrate the point, if you lined up all of those containers end-to-end, they would circle earth nearly two hundred times.

COOL CHAIN IS COMING

From succulent seafood to essential pharmaceuticals, cold chain is coming of age as growth in demand for temperature sensitive goods continues to climb. The container reefer trade has benefited from this rise in demand, enjoying steady but sustained growth in recent years.

AUTOMATED VEHICLES ON THE STARTING GRID

The advent of Automated Vehicles is about to revolutionise the waterside and landside operations at container terminals around the world. The concept is nothing new as Hutchison Ports ECT Rotterdam developed the first automated terminal with Automated Guided Vehicles since 1990s.

DIGITAL PORTS TO CREATE NEW SHIPPING ECOSYSTEM

Ports are one of the nodes in the global network providing a key link between sea and land and the connection with the hinterland. This puts the port in a good position to be a neutral platform to act as a supply chain co-ordinator, making use of its assets and knowledge of the markets and hinterland, by providing onward connections for port users.

DIGITAL TWINS HEADING YOUR WAY

A technology widespread in the world of industrial manufacturing is slowly being recognised as a useful tool in supply chain and port planning. As a result, Gartner named “digital twin” as one of their Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2018.