HANSA 10-2017

Häfen | Ports
back online after a shutdown? Where rebuilding
is required, what types of »disaster-proofing«
is necessary?
All ports have emergency plans – covering
procedures for shutdown, evacuations,
and re-starting. But resiliency, an
imprecise concept, has never been benchmarked.
That may be changing. Through
a project that was launched in late 2014,
funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce
in conjunction with five states on
the Gulf of Mexico coast, planners have
been developing a new tool: The Ports
Resilience Index (»PRI«). This tool, in its
early stages, does provide checklists for
ports to plan for resiliency. This is an important
starting point.
On a practical level, there are still many
challenges for ports with cargo handling
facilities; indeed, the authors of the PRI
assessment materials acknowledge that:
»Every port is different,« and that, in an
emergency, there may not always be a
precise blueprint for actions. Each catastrophic
event brings unforeseen challenges;
for example, back-up electrical
requirements had not been adequately
addressed in regulations that applied to
certain chemical processing facilities in
Texas. In Corpus Christi, a drillship broke
loose from its moorings and temporarily
blocked the entrance to the port.
Academic Studies of Resiliency
Often, »fixes« are done an emergency
basis. An article appearing in an academic
article appearing in the August,
2017 issue of the journal Technological
Forecasting and Social Change offers an
important perspective. In their article the
researchers based in Galveston’s campus
of Texas A&M University suggest: Protecting
ports from the impact of adverse weather
events is a »wicked problem« defined
as: »…one where the planning for adverse
events is diffcult or impossible to solve
because of incomplete, contradictory,
and changing requirements that are often
diffcult to recognize…« This »wicked
problem« is complex but can be mitigated
through the measure of resiliency. Improving
port resiliency happens with collaboration
and over time, not overnight.
CEO of Port Everglades: Steve Cernak
Another academic analysis by a research
team from the University of
Mississippi, intones port planners:
»Hardening of port infrastructure assets
in the area is recommended to enhance
resilience against coastal disasters
and minimize supply chain
disruptions.«
With Hurricanes »Harvey« and
»Irma« fresh in mind, port planners
will likely be revisiting all their plans
to be able to cope with natural disasters
in the future.
M
At Texas ports, vital for the US energy industry, Hurricane Harvey caused severe damage
Photos: US Coast Guard/ Barry Parker
HANSA International Maritime Journal – 154. Jahrgang – 2017 – Nr. 10 79