Although national economies are regaining their strength, one of the most important questions for 2011 is whether world trade will continue to recover. In port economies, over the last years we have seen extensive growth in container volume, and weekly visits by ultra-large container ships are now a matter of routine. Furthermore, many such ships were ordered before the crisis and are coming into service more quickly. This raises questions about the delicate balance between supply and demand for container ship capacity and the danger of disruption of the market.
In Europe and elsewhere, governments have had to intervene, but despite the austerity measures planned for 2011 nobody knows if we will be able to restore the same high rate of growth as before the crisis. But we are convinced this period of modest growth provides an opportunity to develop and implement a number of innovations.
We also are convinced the “green economy” will further grow in importance, with an impact on shipping and port policymaking. Although today the green approach sometimes may have more to do with marketing than a real concern for a greener world, in the coming years we can expect a more pragmatic approach resulting in real improvements based on sound economic fundamentals. More clustering of cargo for the hinterland, for example, is one of the possible economical and ecological options.
Sustainable growth is a concern of us all, and environmental issues have no boundaries, especially in the worldwide port economy. That's why cooperation between ports and between port authorities and other players in the field is so important. That collaboration between competing ports can be very successful and has been demonstrated by ports in the Hamburg-Le Havre range. In 2011, they will introduce the Environmental Ship Index to reward environmentally friendly seagoing vessels.