Press Releases & News

EAST COAST PORTS WELCOME FRENCH DELEGATION FOR MEETINGS ON PORT SECURITY TECHNOLOGY

Chicago, July 12, 2010 (word count: 821)

Maritime security has been the target of large investment in the United States and the rest of the world, particularly after the attacks of Sept. 11. As a result, all companies that offer solutions in this area of the business have increased their efforts towards ports amongst other sites where Homeland Security operates.

The meetings organized for the French delegation were set to better understand what the status of port development is in some of the leading ports in the U.S. and the world, as well as to discuss how procurement works for new suppliers. This being hard to access information for companies based overseas, this mission proved very interesting for the French group. As an example, Damien Féger, vice president of LNG and shipping at NG2, described the differences in port development he learned about within the U.S. “[Apparently] the East Coast is just starting to look into land-based power solutions (cold ironing) for ships whereas the West Coast has already launched a campaign to implement this type of installation to reduce emissions by 2014,” he says.

During the tour, port executives described how different levels of governance in the decision process can be public or private. For instance, JAXPORT owns and operates three public marine terminals and one passenger cruise terminal in Jacksonville, Fla. In contrast, Port Everglades is a self-supporting enterprise fund of the Broward County government that does not operate any terminals. Private operators such as Mediterranean Shipping Company or Sun Terminals, Inc. rent the terminals and run their own security systems independently from the Port Authority.

Although the difference between the French and U.S. market in terms of supplying equipment to terminal operations seems thin, members of the French delegation learned that it is easier for the French ports to be directly in touch with the suppliers than in the U.S. Here, third-party contractors intervene in the supply chain, whereas in France the operator will usually reach out directly to the manufacturer to get new products.

The meetings were beneficial for both sides. Each company had the opportunity to present their activity to the port executives who then shared their comments on each type of solution. “It was a wonderful opportunity to become acquainted with these outstanding French companies and to learn how their expertise and products could assist U.S. ports in meeting the security and environmental challenges.  It was especially timely given the on-going oil spill crisis in the Gulf of Mexico,” says Rex Sherman, AAPA director of resources.

Sylvain Montels, sales manager at Écocéane was extremely impressed with the container terminals of Norfolk. “The loading and unloading process of the containers is almost military [in operation]. This is a port undergoing development with a much defined strategy and operations that take every aspect into consideration,” Montels says. Écocéane, who specializes in water surface cleaning boats, has an excellent solution for the oil spill that received much interest from the American participants. The company’s sales team was in the U.S. during this mission when they completed the sale of 10 boats to a U.S. client for use in the areas of Biloxi, Miss., and New Orleans.

Also, some of the ports have sister-cities in France. Therefore, the interest in learning more about how business is done on each territory is mutual. Norfolk is sister to Toulon in the southeastern region of France, and Jacksonville is a sister city of Nantes, in Brittany, in the northeastern part of the country. This mission contributes to the development of the ties between these cities.

To learn more about port security, the French delegation plans to attend the Port Security Seminar and Exhibition hosted by AAPA in New Orleans from July 21 to 23, 2010. Next year, the delegation will tour ports along the West Coast including California, a state world-renowned for its advancements in environmental port technologies.