Asia Navigation Conference 2021(ANC 2021) held in Tianjin, China

Focusing on of safety, green intelligence and cooperation
Jointly building the Asian Maritime Academic Community

Asia Navigation Conference 2021(ANC 2021) was held in Tianjin from October 19 to 20 with the theme of “safety, green, intelligence, and cooperation”. He Jianzhong, the president of CIN said that ANC has been advocating regional cooperation and common development, and CIN will jointly work with other Asian institutes of navigation to build a fact- finding community, a shared value community as well as a people-oriented community. By doing so, we are bound to make due contributions to the prosperity and development of shipping in Asia even all over the world.

ANC, jointly sponsored by CIN, Japan Institute of Navigation (JIN), and Korean Institute of Navigation and Port Research (KINPR), has been successfully held for 18 consecutive sessions. Serving as an academic exchange platform, ANC has promoted the training of Maritime talents in Asia and witnessed the development of maritime science and technology in Asia. This annual conference is organized by CIN in rotation. It is held online and offline, and the offline venue is set in Tianjin Water Transport Engineering Research Institute of Ministry of Transport. Li Guoping, safety director of Ministry of Transport of the People's Republic of China (MOT), executive deputy director of China Maritime Search and Rescue Center (China SAR), and director of Emergency Office of the Ministry of Transport, and Sun Wenkui, deputy mayor of Tianjin Municipal Government attended the conference and gave speeches. Zhang Baocheng, Executive president of CIN, presided over the opening ceremony. Representatives of JIN, KINPR, and representatives from Singapore, Myanmar, Indonesia attended the conference online. Experts from China, Japan, Korea, and International Shipping Federation (ISF) were invited to make academic reports on the theme of the testing and demonstrative cooperation on maritime autonomous navigation ships, maritime search and rescue service and regional cooperation, special research on marine environment, and the application of VR in maritime education and training, respectively. The thesis exchange activities was well organized and award-winning papers were elected through expert review.

Strengthen coordinated action, open cooperation and scientific and technological innovation

In the opening speech, President He Jianzhong said the ocean is a natural link for economic, trade, cultural, scientific and technological exchanges among countries. Scientific research in the field of navigation has international characteristics, so it is necessary for people from the navigation community of all countries to strengthen communication and mutual trust, reach cooperation and consensus in various aspects and make joint efforts for the globalization on marine science and technology..

To fulfill this goal, he made three points: 
First, coordinated action is the unavoidable requirement to promote maritime green development. 

China's maritime community is making efforts to reduce carbon emissions from ship equipment, fuel oil supply, shore power construction and alternative energy sources. It is hoped that through the platform of the ANC, we can focus on the theme of green development, deeply discuss the technology of emission reduction from the source, take innovative adjustment measures to better reflect the comparative advantages of water transport in terms of transportation mode, and promote clean, low-carbon and efficient development in terms of energy consumption structure.

Second, openness and cooperation are critical guarantees of the sound development of the maritime industry.

In the face of the complex and volatile COVID-19 pandemic and the prominent contradiction between global trade demand and logistics supply chains, it is necessary to further strengthen international cooperation and jointly establish a stable and orderly logistics supply chains and shipping service guarantee system.

CIN has been committed to strengthening communication and contact with maritime academic groups around the world, and actively building a platform for international communication and cooperation in maritime field. The specific methods are as follows:
1. We will launch extensive international academic exchanges through"China Navigation Day Forum"

2. Through the "China Navigation" and "Navigation Technology" periodicals, we sincerely invite maritime science and technology workers from all over the world to conduct in-depth research on maritime theory and practical experience;

3. Based on China Maritime Think Tank, we welcome the Asian maritime academic community to jointly build up an Asia maritime think tank alliance. 

4. We will plan to establish an international technological alliance of port and navigation, build an Industry- University- Research platform of maritime science and technology, so as to study and resolve common difficulties faced by global maritime sector.

Next Year, CIN will organize and hold the World Maritime Science and Technology Conference, and we warmly invite experts and scholars from Asia and the world in maritime sector to attend it.

Third, scientific and technological innovation is the inexhaustible driving force for navigation to keep pace with The Times.

At present, traditional globalization is adjusting to retraction, but digital globalization is accelerating. We need to seize the opportunity to to guide and promote the in-depth integration of new technologies such as big data, Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, block chain and supercomputing with the traditional shipping industry, and organize and promote scientific and technological innovation focusing on the transformation and development of the shipping industry, operation mode, efficiency of the transport chain and supply chain, and port facilitation. We look forward to reaching new consensus on exploring the establishment of China-Japan-Korea smart shipping demonstration zones.

Advocate the Application of Advanced Science and Technology to Improve Shipping Safety

As Li Guoping said in his speech, this conference is of great significance to the healthy and sustainable development of navigation. Safety and green has always been the focus of attention in the maritime field, which is in line with the slogan of "Safer navigation, cleaner ocean" put forward by the International Maritime Organization. Intelligence is the emerging development direction of Marine science and technology in recent years. With the wide application of intelligent technology, the application of intelligent technology is gradually practiced and expanded in ship construction, maritime communication, ship navigation, electromechanical control, cargo handling and other aspects. Cooperation reflects the international and regional nature of the conference. Asian countries enjoy frequent trade exchanges and share similar development goals. Only through cooperation, mutual exchange and joint progress can we make our due contribution to the economic prosperity and social stability of Asia.

Li said that China's Ministry of Transport has been actively advocating the use of advanced science and technology to promote shipping safety, reduce accidents and improve service quality, Recently, the concept of total factor and large traffic management has emphasized the construction of a new pattern of "multi-dimensional perception, efficient coordination, intelligent disposal and quality service".
 He said that he was willing to share this process with other peers in maritime sector in other Asian countries, and he would, as ever, encourage CIN to cooperate with other marine scientific and technological parties in Asia and even the world. That is how we can pool and integrate marine scientific and technological talent resources at home and abroad, and proactively launch international and domestic activities for maritime academic exchanges, build up a sharing platform for communication and implementation of maritime scientific and technological achievements, and 
always guide the development direction of Marine science and technology.

Strive to Build a World-class Smart and Green Port

In the speech, Sun Wenkui addressed that Tianjin is an important port city in northern China,and the Tianjin Port, the “maritime gateway” is an important open platform for the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region to connect with the world. During his inspection of Tianjin Port, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that we should strive to build a world-class smart and green port to better serve the coordinated development of The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and the belt and Road Initiative. Since then, Tianjin municipal committee of the CPC and Tianjin Municipal Government have thoroughly implemented the important instructions and spirit of General Secretary Xin Jinping, given full play  the Marine transportation in the national economy and the important role in the development of society, and sped up the construction of Tianjin northern international shipping hub, and redoubled the efforts to construct a world-class smart and green port which boasts of  wise layout, complete system, efficient service, integrated development between port and the city. By doing so, we will strive to ensure the implementation of major national strategies, promote high-quality regional economic development, and propel the formation of the new pattern of all-round opening-up. Sun Wenkui said he is looking forward to strengthening exchanges and cooperation, promoting the in-depth and extensive application of Marine science and technology, and making positive contributions to building China into a transportation and maritime power.