An international design competition was launched in the wake of the explosion of an ammonium nitrate warehouse at the port of Beirut in August 2020, which destroyed the neighbouring districts, claiming over 200 lives and inuring thousands more. A team of four your Palestinian architects has won the international competition to redesign the area. Their project, entitled “The Aftermath – Productive Beirut”, focuses on providing production spaces and vocational schools, to create jobs and fight against the unemployment exacerbated by the explosion in 2020. Temporary for 300,000 Lebanese residents who lost their homes could then be turned into permanent dwellings or work spaces. Public spaces and local markets would also be created for the residents, while measures would be taken to preserve the local collective memory.

Work to redevelop Hangar J1 on the city’s waterfront is set to begin in early 2022. The three-storey site will house a Marriott hotel with 130 rooms, along with offices, shops, and a maritime business incubator and training centre. The project, dubbed “J1 La Passerelle” (“J1 The Gateway”) is designed by Bernard Reichen, and focuses heavily on the need to open up the port to the city. Outdoor spaces will be designed to allow public access to dock 82, which is used by large yachts and other sailing vessels. Meanwhile, dock 84 will house restaurant terraces, and also a swimming pool on a floating barge alongside J1. The environmental footprint of the newly redeveloped J1 is set to be reduced by using solar panels and marine thermal energy.

When it comes to shrinking the carbon footprint of ports, the debate is mainly focused on hydrogen and its nitrogen-based compound, ammonia. Yet we already have a technology that is simpler to control: methanol. It can be produced from captured CO², biomass, or green waste, making it a potentially green resource. That is why the port of Antwerp (Belgium) is set to launch a prototype tug powered by methanol. The trial will be a world-first, and could pave the way to much lower carbon emissions for these vessels, with their powerful engines. Meanwhile, Maersk is to trial the use of methanol in larger vessels, starting with a 2,000 TEU container ship in 2023, also a world-first.

Port cities are becoming innovation hubs as several AIVP members show us. In Bahía Blanca, Argentina, the port authority just launched the Smartport Lab, including the 2021 Challenge, for start-ups to present innovative solutions in 4 themes, energy, environmental monitoring, tracking small boat tracking and smart sea tech. In Spain, many port cities are also investing in innovative start-ups. In Sevilla, the port and the university just laid the cornerstone for new CIU3A innovation centre, in an investment of 15 million €. In other cases, the Ports 4.0 by Puertos del Estado is fostering innovation opportunities. For example, in Bilbao, the PortLab will support 6 ideas that will receive funding from the national program.