460 people attended PIANC APAC 2026, held in Brisbane 25-27 August. Attendees came from every state and territory in Australia, as well as 63 international delegates from 17 other countries (Belgium, Brazil, Fiji, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Solomon Islands, United Kingdom and the United States).
Day 1 – Tours and Welcome
Day 1 in Brisbane featured three outstanding technical tours, followed by a vibrant Welcome Reception at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre, generously sponsored by Arup.
Tour 1: Port of Brisbane & Patrick AutoStrad™
A huge thank you to Matt Hollamby (Patrick Terminals) and Edward Harwood (Port of Brisbane) for providing a behind-the-scenes look at Queensland’s largest multi-cargo port. The tour showcased how ports can evolve to meet future demands while improving productivity, safety and resilience. A resounding highlight for all in attendance.
Tour 2: South Bank & Brisbane River CityCat Tour
Led by Stuart Bettington, we explored the evolution of South Bank, from Brisbane’s historic port and commercial centre through to World Expo 88 and the vibrant parklands precinct it is today. Travelling along the river highlighted both the beauty of the Brisbane River and its ongoing flood challenges, alongside examples of mangroves and nature-based solutions implemented along its banks.
Tour 3: South Bank & Queensland Maritime Museum
Led by Ollie Poynter, this walking tour explored Brisbane’s maritime heritage, including the historic South Brisbane Dry Dock, HMAS Diamantina, and the people, vessels and infrastructure that have shaped Queensland’s maritime industry.
More information and images about the tours are here: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7498012131053924352
Day 2 & 3 Keynotes & Presentations
A special thank you to Refiti Tovi, Representative of the Turrbal People, for the beautiful welcome song and for welcoming us to Meeanjin (Brisbane).
Luke Campbell, PIANC AU-NZ Chair, and Francisco Esteban Lefler, PIANC President, officially opened the conference, highlighting the strength of PIANC AU-NZ as the largest section globally and the value of bringing together perspectives from across the diverse Asia-Pacific and Oceania region. We are better together!
The Conference featured two keynote addresses, the first on Wednesday from Giles Lesser, OMC International & John Clarke, Marine Pilot, Dampier, WA, ‘Building Connection: Elevating Pilotage in the Pacific Region.
On Thursday Prof Todd Bridges, University of Georgia, and past Chair of PIANC’s Environmental Commission, delivered his keynote Address: ‘Leading Transformation for Nature-Positive Infrastructure and Resilient Ports.’ This has been recorded and is available on our YouTube channel.
Presentations
Day 2 & 3 program featured 142 industry and researcher presentations within nine themes:
(listed in order of number of papers)
- Port Planning and Engineering. (52 presentations)
- Working with Nature, Environment and Ecosystem Services. (25)
- Maritime Development in Emerging and Developing Countries (15)
- Decarbonisation/ Clean Energy at Ports and Climate Change Adaptation (15)
- Port Operations and Management (14)
- Technological and Digital Advancements ( 14)
- Dredging and Reclamation (7)
PIANC Working Group topics
Several PIANC Working Group recent publications and ongoing WG topics were explored at Conference including:
- EnviCom WG214: Beneficial Use for Sustainable Waterborne Transport Infrastructure Projects
- EnviCom WG267: The Role of Waterborne Transport Infrastructure in Biodiversity Enhancement,
- EnviCom WG274: A Practical Guide for Applying Thin Layer Placement Approaches for Sustainable Water Transport Infrastructure
- MarCom WG211: PIANC Fender Guidelines 2024
- MarCom WG261: An Update to PIANC Design Principles for Dry Bulk Marine Terminals
- RecCom WG254 Update of Superyacht Marina Guidelines
In particular the new WG267 ‘The Role of WTI in Biodiversity Enhancement‘ had a strong presence with eight presentations and a workshop. WG members had chosen to have their international meet-up in Brisbane to coincide with Conference, and to share their expertise and further learnings with the community.
Massive Thanks Time!
Huge thanks to our Local Organising Committee led by Stuart Bettington, and including Mark Bennet, Luke Campbell, Ron Cox, Neil Lawson, Sam Mazaheri, Arne Nilsen, Russell Perry, Harvinder Singh, Paul Weston, with YPs Oliver (Ollie) Poynter, and Jess Wood.
Thanks of course also to our wonderful Event Managers – East Coast Conferences, led by Jayne Hindle – we are so lucky to have your hardworking team by our side! Our request is that you never leave us!
Grateful thanks to all our sponsors and exhibitors, and a big shout out to our marvellous Platinum Sponsors: Aurecon, McConnell Dowell, Port of Brisbane and Trelleborg. Also to our generous Gold Sponsors: Arup, Haskoning, KBR and WGA. To all our sponsors – such supportive members of our coastal, ports and maritime community, we could not have done it without you!
Thanks to our Comms people – Jess Wood PIANC AU-NZ YP, and Daniel Turner of HeadNorth Films.
Lastly but not least, we are hugely grateful to PIANC President Francisco Esteban Lefler and Professor Todd Bridges for coming all the way to be with us, and to Todd for his online comments, which we are happy to reproduce!
“Congratulations to PIANC Australia & New Zealand for putting on such a significant and successful conference! You know how to do it right! “
Todd Bridges
Images:
All professional images taken at the Conference are now available to download. Please, if using images in a professional capacity, credit PIANC AU-NZ: Daniel Turner.