New Panama Canal chief to open this year's TOC conference December 4-6

INCOMING Administrator for the Panama Canal Authority Jorge Luis Quijano, will give the keynote address at this year's TOC Container Supply Chain Americas conference, which will be held for the fourth time in Panama on December 4-6.

Quijano, who took up his new role on September 4, was named this March as the successor to chief executive officer of the Panama Canal Authority Alberto Aleman Zubieta, who has been at the helm of ACP for 16 years. A native of Panama, Mr Quijano has been with ACP since 1975, most recently as executive vice president of the engineering and programmes management department in charge of the canal expansion.

The new ACP head is the latest in a series of high-profile maritime and container supply chain executives confirmed to speak at the 12th annual pan-American gathering in Panama City that will focus on the theme: "Resilience, Reliability & Responsiveness: Innovative Approaches to Manage New Risks".

Conference organisers said "the voice of the cargo owner will be strongly represented" at this year's conference, with logistics executives participating from major industrial producers and consumer brands. Shippers will air views on issues including logistics network planning in the wake of Panama Canal expansion, the impact of near-shoring and the continued volatility in container shipping.

As ocean carriers press ahead with a range of alliance, capacity and rate restorations, and put plans in place for Panama Canal expansion, liner shipping strategies on east-west and north-south trades will be another major area for discussion.

Senior shipping figures joining this year include Wolfgang Freese, president, Hapag-Lloyd (America); Erxin Yao, president, OOCL (USA), Robbert Jan van Trooijen, chief executive, Latin America & the Caribbean for Maersk Line and Poul Hestbaek, vice president Latin America west coast and Caribbean at Hamburg Sud.

Infrastructure investment and development to accommodate new container trade dynamics and flows will also be high on the agenda. With throughput up 11 per cent to 41.3 million TEU, Latin America and the Caribbean was the fastest growing region for container traffic in 2011.

The challenges and opportunities of upgrading ageing infrastructure and bringing new capacity to market will also be discussed, with terminal operators, port authorities and government agencies addressing issues from financing and public-private sector relations to port-hinterland connectivity and adoption of innovative terminal automation technologies. Top speakers include Matthew Leech, vice president and managing director Americas region for DP World and Joe Nicklaus Nielsen, managing director Latin America for APM Terminals.