Hamburg to host all about ports 2026

Hamburg Messe und Congress (HMC) is launching a new international conference and exhibition focused on port infrastructure, with the first edition of all about ports scheduled for 2–3 September 2026 at the CCH — Congress Center Hamburg.

The organiser is positioning the event as part of a wider September clustering of maritime and industrial gatherings in the city, including the SMM maritime trade fair, which is scheduled for 1–4 September 2026. The intended audience spans port authorities, terminal operators, shipping lines, logistics providers, technology suppliers, and public bodies involved in infrastructure planning and critical national infrastructure oversight.

The scope reflects how port investment programmes are evolving. New terminal capacity is still being built, but the defining differentiators are increasingly digital and energy-led: automated handling, integrated control systems, cyber resilience, electrified equipment, shore power integration, and the supply chains required for alternative fuels. Ports are also under pressure to increase throughput and reliability without simply adding acreage, which pushes capital towards simulation, predictive maintenance, and decision-support systems that can coordinate vessels, yard operations, and hinterland flows as a single system.

HMC said the programme will focus on digital control systems, artificial intelligence and process automation, cyber security and protection of critical infrastructure, decarbonisation and intelligent energy systems, intermodal logistics corridors and autonomous cargo handling, and sustainable port planning.

“Ports worldwide are facing far-reaching transformation challenges,” said Claus Ulrich Selbach, vice president exhibitions energy and maritime at Hamburg Messe und Congress. “All about ports brings together the relevant stakeholders to develop concrete solutions for modern, resilient and sustainable port infrastructure.”

India’s port and logistics investment pipeline is being used by the organiser as a reference case for the scale of current global modernisation. The country’s Sagarmala programme, launched in 2015, has combined port modernisation with connectivity and industrial development, while Maritime India Vision 2030 set out interventions around capacity augmentation, mega-port development, and logistics efficiency. In parallel, the Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision framework has signalled deeper draft capability and new mega-port ambitions, alongside decarbonisation initiatives such as green port guidelines and hydrogen or ammonia hub development at selected major ports.

For European operators, the interest is practical rather than academic: Indian expansion is occurring at a moment when global liner networks are recalibrating, capacity is concentrating into fewer, larger calls, and shippers are demanding more predictable end-to-end performance. Any improvement in terminal productivity, berth planning, or hinterland transfer efficiency quickly becomes a competitiveness issue, particularly for ports handling high-value or time-sensitive cargo flows.

Hamburg’s India linkage is already material. HMC said more than 200,000 TEU are handled annually between Hamburg and India, and pointed to a Hamburg business delegation visit to Mumbai in February 2026 led by Dr Melanie Leonhard, Hamburg’s senator for economic affairs, which included discussions on infrastructure projects and cooperation opportunities.

The event is supported by industry bodies including Hamburg Port Authority, the Maritime Cluster Northern Germany, the Central Association of German Seaport Operators, and the International Association of Ports and Harbors. Jens Meier, president of the International Association of Ports and Harbors and chief executive of Hamburg Port Authority, said: “The event addresses precisely those issues that will determine the future of the global port industry: how to make ports more resilient, sustainable, and technologically advanced?”