APP Winter Conference Recap

Returning to Hawaii for the first time since 2020, the APP’s 2023 Winter Conference was hailed a success in early survey results by attendees. The event, held from February 8 to 10, 2023 at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Resort in Honolulu, saw both first-time and returning attendees enjoying engaging presentations along with plenty of opportunities to network, reconnect with old friends and make new ones.

With one-third of attendees already having responded to our survey, we’ve had very positive feedback and a clear direction set for future Winter Conferences. Almost 80% of those who responded to our survey felt Honolulu, Hawaii was a “very good” or “excellent” choice as the locale. “Honolulu is a good central point to meet,” wrote one respondent while others suggested that, while a good location, other islands in the Hawaiian chain would also be appealing. All were in agreement however that Hawaii was a convenient location for port members on either side of the Pacific.

To view photos from the Conference, please click here.

Agenda recap

With two chock-full days of presentations, attendees were impressed with the amount of information gleaned from speakers and panels covering a multitude of topics. All sessions received top marks from attendees who responded to the post-conference survey and anecdotal feedback has been extremely complimentary. “It was great to have the opportunity to see and hear things of new and great concern and importance from the many ports present,” wrote one Port Member attendee. Another comment noted: “Terrific conference. An engaging and collaborative atmosphere. Lots of Ports which was great to see, and we took a lot out of it.”

Presentations / PowerPoint slides
Click on the presentation title to download pdfs of the PowerPoint presentations

Tribute to Chris King, Direct of the American Samoa Department of Port Administration — in addition to emotional tributes from Tumua Matuu, Deputy Director, ASDPA (who received a standing ovation ), and Sarah Pautzke, Lynker, the APP presented a video tribute that can be found here:

Fiji Ports Corporation Limited: Charting a Smart, Green Path / Risk Management — Vajira Piyasena, Chief Executive Officer, and Roshan Abeyesundere, Chief Financial Officer, Fiji Ports Corporation Limited

OCIANA: Collaborative Platform for Logistics Optimization and Security — Robert Marshy, Chief Technology Officer, GSTS

Ports and Technology: Now What? — Konrad Mech, CD, P.Eng., PMP, BEng, BA, MBA, Sales Director, Coasts, Ports and Inland Waterways, Kongsberg Maritime Canada Ltd.

Port of Alaska Modernization Program (PAMP) update and seismic resiliency considerations — John Daley, Engineering Manager, Port of Alaska Modernization Program, Port of Alaska

U.S. DHS CISA Regional Resiliency Assessment Program (RRAP) — James Cruz, Protective Security Advisor, Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency, and Kelly Wilson, Senior Critical Infrastructure Analyst, Idaho National Laboratory

Ports, Courts and Torts: A Brief Survey of Legal Issues Affecting Your Business — Alan K. Goldstein, Law Office of Alan K. Goldstein

Sustainable Asset Management and Maintenance of Infrastructure – An Innovative Approach — Blane McGuiness, Executive Manager – Engineering, and Philip Bird, Executive Manager – Operations, Marine & Civil Maintenance Pty Ltd

Port Alberni Port Authority: Future Gateway to the Pacific — Zoran Knezevic, President & CEO / Port Alberni Port Authority

You Got the Grant! Now What? — Jeannie Beckett, Principal / The Beckett Group

Financing Harbor Deepening and Widening Projects: Legal Developments on Existing Fee Authority — Lowry Crook, Partner, Environmental Law & Natural Resources, Ruben Duran, Managing Partner, and Lutfi Kharuf, Partner, Special Districts and Public Finance, Best Best & Krieger LLP

GHG Emissions and Sea Level Rise — Richard Price, P.E., CSM, CISEC, ENV SP, Senior Engineer and Port Program Manager, EA Engineering, Science, and Technology, Inc., PBC

Panel: Environmental Sustainability — Sarah Pautzke, Scientist, Lynker; Derek Chow, Business Development Manager, Burns & McDonnell; Conchita Taitano, Guam Port Authority Board; and Jeannie Beckett, Principal, The Beckett Group

The Pasha Group: LNG Bunkering / Microgrid Program — Edward F. Washburn, Senior Vice President, Fleet Operations / Pasha Hawaii — in addition to the presentation, The Pasha Group team escorted attendees on a tour of the new Kapalama Container Terminal. The 84-acre, state-of-the-art container terminal features two new berths (totaling 1,859 feet), adjoining barge connections for neighbor island cargo, on-dock trucking queuing for reduced street traffic, and energy-efficient LED lighting. The terminal will open in 2024 so the opportunity to tour the site while construction was underway was very educational in itself. With two buses on the tour, George Pasha IV, President and CEO, and Mike Caswell, Senior Vice President, Fleet Operations, described key highlights and insights on one bus, while Randy Grune, Managing Director, Hawaii Stevedores, Inc. let the second bus. For many attendees, this was a high point of the entire conference.