The Subcommittee on Ports and Terminals of the International Organization for Standardization’s Technical Committee on Ships and Marine Technology met for the first time in China at Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries (ZPMC).
ISO/TC 8/SC 27 was proposed by China and officially established in early 2025. It is the first ISO technical subcommittee dealing with standardization in ports and terminals. It currently has 24 participating and 24 observing member countries.
“As the lead organization of ISO/TC 8/SC 27, ZPMC has contributed to the design of global port and shipping standards in recent years by sharing Chinese technological approaches and has played an active role in helping Chinese standards to gain wider international recognition,” says the Chinese. To date, the company has led or contributed to the development of eight international standards in the crane sector. The aim is to “contribute to improvements in global port efficiency, technological progress and sustainable development”.
The meeting was attended by more than 150 participants, including delegates from 15 member countries – including China, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the USA – as well as representatives from five international port and terminal organizations. The three-day event included working sessions in which participants heard reports from the subcommittee chair and secretariat, reviewed the subcommittee’s scope of work and strategic plan, and discussed six proposed international standard projects, including terminology for ports and terminals. The agenda also included visits to ZPMC’s Changxing Shipyard and the Phase IV Automated Container Terminal at Yangshan Deep Water Port in Shanghai for technical exchanges.
