By Mike Jarrett
Representatives of the regional port management community converged on Panama City late in January 2018 to spend time together addressing urgent issues directly related to the operation and survival of marine ports and terminals across the Caribbean-Latin American region.
Carlos Urriola Tam, MIT
Mike Jarrett - Portside Caribbean Editor
Bishen John, Chair of PMACThey were to spend three days in workshop sessions and site visits at the inaugural PMAC-Portside Caribbean Port Management Workshop. This annual event, the brainchild of Portside Caribbean’s founder and editor, Mike Jarrett and presented in collaboration with the Port Management Association of the Caribbean (PMAC) and Caribbean Maritime University (CMU), was held at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Panama City, January 22, 23 and 24, and was hosted by Manzanillo International Terminal. It was a great success, with participation of over 70 surpassing expectations. The next Caribbean Port Management Workshop will be in Jamaica, in January 2019.
Participants chose one of the two concurrent Tracks to attend on Day 1. Track 1 was Climate Change. Six topics were presented in this
Track: ecosystem services used to protect coasts and harbours; use of remote sensing technologies for bathymetry and monitoring; climate change expectancies for the Caribbean region; shoreline management and a changing climate; optimising harbour designs to cope with climate changes; and use of a novel port management system with focus on water-related challenges.
Track 2, Disaster Preparedness and Relief, had six topics; the first three dealt with man-made disasters and, specifically, management and response to oil spills and including firefighting. The other three topics dealt with natural disasters, using data and experiences still fresh from the 2017 hurricane season, which devastated many ports in the region.
Track 3, on Day 2, brought all participants together to begin discussions about a regional quick-response disaster relief and assistance network. This discussion included some 13 PMAC member ports, the OAS-CIP and a number of Caribbean entities, including CARICOM and its Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), which signed a Memorandum of Understanding with PMAC and the Caribbean Maritime University. The pact will allow them to continue working on matters of mutual interest.
Out-and-About
On the third day, participants left the classroom-style setting of the Sheraton Grand to go out and about.
“Out-and-About wasn’t just a catchy phrase for the moment. It accurately describes the mood and activities of the third day of this technical workshop. Out-and-About is a day-trip, an all-day programme… and a very important component of this annual workshop. It’s an event that facilitates learning and information gathering. It’s when port planners, administrators and managers go out, to see and experience,” Mike Jarrett explained.
Out-and-About 2018 took participants to three destinations, starting with a scenic, easy, stress-free commute via luxury bus and then railway across the gorgeous hinterland of the isthmus of Panama.
