Today we were immersed in the world of the shipping industry and the ports as we were visited by four different companies that operate out of the port of Limassol. Going into the presentation, I had the preconceived notion that all the companies of the ports were competing against each other, sort of like how gas stations are all located next to each other so they can maximize the customer overflow. This is not the case, as both the presenters of DP World and Eurogate empathized with the companies collaboratively especially because Eurotagate and DP World have different roles in the port. Eurogate handles importing and exporting of crates, while DP World focuses on Oil and Energy as well as passenger Cruise lines. Instead of the competition being between companies in the port, the main competitor of shipping is between neighboring ports in various countries. This point was argued strongly by the officials of the Port Authority. The two men who visited our company were passionate about the Cyprus waters and what the shipping industry has done for the country. As the shipping companies play a crucial part in the supply chain of the country as a whole, the Cyprus government has worked carefully with the port Authority to have a profitable business. An exciting part of the Business practices of the port Authority and its supply chain is the country’s shift from shipping in the public sector to moving into the private sector. Before the change, all the responsibilities of a port lay on the Ports Authority. Now those responsibilities have been divided as mentioned previously.

A significant takeaway from the presentation from Eurogate was the implementation of AI into their system. Instead of using paper to track each shipment, Eurogate uses AI for all their management areas, such as where the containers will be stored. This has led to significant improvements in the company, such as truck delivery time being reduced to only 15 minutes as well as reducing the waiting time of the cargo ships. As AI becomes more involved in companies’ supply chains, Eurogate showed that AI must be implanted now so ports do not fall behind.