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We are lucky enough to have the support of some of the major partners to the Canadian Maritime industry for the 10th IHMA Congress taking place in Vancouver at the end of May. Saab Canada, part of the global Saab group, modifies and delivers Saab’s portfolio to the Canadian market and will be giving attendees some insight into ‘Collaborative Decision Making and the Port Common Operating Picture‘ when their Managing Director Peter Behrendt addresses Congress on the 30th May this year. We were lucky enough to get a few minutes with Peter in the lead up to the event and get his thoughts on the Congress itself, his presentation topic, what to expect to see at the Saab exhibition booth. See below!
What is your view on the timing of this event in the industry? What do you expect to be discussed at the conference?
Peter Behrendt: The timing is convenient and meshes well in the overall events calendar. One thing that definitely comes to mind is how the low oil prices are going to impact many aspects of the industry. On the one hand offshore activity is strongly declining, reducing port services required. On the other hand, low oil prices ultimately result in lower fuel costs, making shipping cheaper.
I would say that I also expect there to be expansion and efficiency related discussions and how the increased use of new technologies can be fielded in the maritime space. Everything from drones to integrated systems and automation of various systems.
You’ll be delivering a presentation on Collaborative Decision Making and the Port Common Operating Picture . What are the key features of this presentation?
Peter Behrendt: Collaborative Decision Making (CDM) is a concept that originated in aviation, where there are many parallels with efficient handling of turn-arounds with limited resources. The first step in CDM is information sharing. That alone already can have significant impact on efficiency, as well as reductions in emissions and costs. The Common Operating Picture is a means to provide easy access to that information.
The tools we bring are secondary. The real value lies in getting the various parties, who may be competitors, in a port on the same page. Saab brings the experience to build trust between parties that is essential to make CDM work.
What is the key feature? Basically the concept is that maritime stakeholders are “better together” or achieve better results when “working together” based on increased information flow – simple to say but often hard to fully realise.
What can attendees expect from your exhibition booth?
Peter Behrendt: At the booth attendees can expect dedicated people ready to listen to what our visitors have on their minds and what changes they see ahead. We will have a wide variety of solutions on display to support ports in their business, making ports safer and more efficient.
We will be presenting our integrated Fairway to Freeway solution this year. That is VTS, Port Management, Common Operating Picture, Collaborative Decision Making and AIS networks as it might look in a control room, we will also have a new VTS simulator on display.
There will be a special guest on our stand flying in from Darwin, Australia. Daniel is the Manager of the VTS and Port Management operations centre in Darwin (recent Australian Port of the year) and has a lot of experience operating the integrated VTS and PMIS suite there. We hope that attendees to our booth enjoy hearing his experiences and can share some experiences of their own.
We are hoping for a really busy stand and really want to show the community the breadth of our capability. Saab will have a larger than normal contingent attending so that we can have more of the great discussions that an event like this generates.
Why is a Congress like this important to the industry and what are you looking forward to about the 2016 IHMA Congress?
Peter Behrendt: A congress like this is a great platform for dialogue among delegates and with the industry. Getting all these people together in one place is a catalyst for getting new ideas discussed, in both formal and informal settings. This is something we are really looking forward to.
If you would like to find out more about the programme or the event in general you can visit the website. The Saab team also invite you to visit their Maritime Traffic Management booth to see their latest product offerings in port management systems, VTMIS, coastal surveillance, AIS and portable pilot units
For a concise summary of the Congress programme and all of the attached networking functions, take a look at our previous article marking ‘7 weeks to go‘.
