Shipping is a lynchpin of the global economy. In fact, the world's global economy simply could not function if not for the shipping industry. Currently, more than 90 percent of global trade is carried by sea, and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development estimates that merchant ships contribute $380 billion in freight revenues worldwide.

Ports handle a variety of cargo, including bulk, break-bulk, liquid bulk and containers. Containers are one of the most important innovations of 20th century logistics, having improved port handling operations, lowered costs and, in turn, boosted trade flows. In 2006, world container port traffic expanded by eight percent, reaching over 330 million Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs). Since 1,000-TEU vessels were introduced in the 1960s, container traffic has grown three times as fast as the world's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and in the last decade alone, worldwide container ship capacity has increased 220 percent. Currently, more than a quarter of the world's goods travel as containerized cargo on Panamax-sized vessels, which can carry up to 5,000 TEUs. In recent years, the exponential growth of international shipping has prompted the introduction of even larger Post-Panamax vessels, which can carry up to 12,000 TEUs. Furthermore, this upward trend in ship size is expected to continue. Within the next two decades, experts anticipate the introduction of 15- to 18,000-TEU container ships.

The surge of larger container ships presents a number of challenges to the world's ports. Larger ships require deeper channels and larger cranes, berths and container yards. Furthermore, container traffic is currently growing twice as fast as port capacity. In 2006, annual worldwide port container capacity was 550 million TEUs. Within the next five years, experts project that ports will require an additional capacity of 122 million TEUs. By 2020, demand will exceed the current capacity of many of the world's ports by as much as 200 percent, and major investments in infrastructure improvements, as well as the construction of entirely new ports, will be required to effectively service larger vessels and accommodate the increased traffic.

Beyond increased traffic and insufficient capacity, ports are facing a number of additional challenges, including security and environmental issues. Ports are inherently vulnerable to attacks because of their extensive size, open accessibility by water and land and close proximity to metropolitan areas. Ports must also deal with a number of environmental concerns affecting water, air and noise quality; coastal hydrology; sediment; and marine/ coastal ecology. Initiatives to mitigate these impacts are as diverse as the impacts themselves. Existing ports are implementing emission-control devices; employing alternate fuels, such as low-sulphur and biodiesel; modifying operations, including cold-ironing ships (turning off ship generators while in port); and substituting equipment operated on diesel with electricity-powered equipment. Meanwhile, new ports are increasingly incorporating sustainability/green design.

To meet these challenges, the Berger Group provides clients with carefully designed, functional and cost-effective facilities with the flexibility to meet future needs. In this issue of BergerWorld, we are pleased to highlight some of our recent accomplishments within the world's rapidly growing port sector.