MEDPorts General Assembly Approves Collaboration with DTF Conference
DTF Conference has received a strong institutional signal from the Mediterranean port community, after the MEDPorts Association General Assembly, led by President David Magro of Malta Freeport Corporation, approved collaboration with the conference. The decision matters because MEDPorts is not a marginal network. It brings together Mediterranean port authorities and training institutions from across the region, representing a substantial share of the cargo and passenger traffic handled in the Mediterranean Sea.
For DTF, whose central purpose is port decarbonisation, the approval is more than a procedural milestone. It places the conference closer to the port authorities that will have to turn regulation, technology and climate ambition into operational projects at berth, terminal and grid level.
MEDPorts' members sit at the centre of many of the issues DTF was created to address: onshore power supply, terminal electrification, port energy planning, data sharing, alternative fuels, hinterland connectivity and the wider transformation of ports into cleaner infrastructure platforms.
The approval also reflects the direction being advanced by MEDPorts President David Magro, whose vision has placed stronger emphasis on decarbonisation, OPS and green corridors across the MEDPorts General Assembly agenda.
That emphasis is well aligned with the DTF proposition: ports in the Mediterranean need a practical forum where electrification, infrastructure readiness and corridor-based decarbonisation can be discussed as connected priorities.
Jordi Torrent, Secretary General of MEDPorts, reiterated that the unanimous approval from the General Assembly is a strong sign of confidence in DTF and what it stands for. MEDPorts will invite its members to attend the conference, strengthening the link between the Mediterranean port network and the DTF platform.
Torrent also pointed to the relevance of the benchmark emerging from EOPSA, particularly around onshore power supply and the practical standards ports need as they move from planning to deployment. That point is important for DTF. The conference resonates with the same operational questions: how ports assess readiness, compare progress, share data and build OPS systems that work across different vessel types, terminals and regulatory environments.
The collaboration also extends into port intelligence. MEDPorts reiterated its support for collaboration around the DTF port intelligence data and data-sharing platform, which is expected to go live in the coming days. That matters because port decarbonisation needs more than good intentions. It needs comparable information, visibility on projects, practical benchmarking and a better understanding of where ports are moving, where investment is going and where gaps remain.
The timing is important. Many MEDPorts members are already developing or assessing onshore power supply systems, particularly as European policy pushes ports and vessels towards cleaner at-berth operations. OPS is no longer a technical side issue. It is becoming part of how ports prepare for the next phase of maritime competitiveness.
That is where the MEDPorts-DTF collaboration has real weight. DTF can provide the conference platform, editorial focus and intelligence layer. MEDPorts brings the regional port network, institutional credibility and practical connection to Mediterranean port priorities. Together, they can help move the discussion from isolated projects to shared learning.
This augurs well for the conference.
It suggests that DTF is being recognised not only as an event, but as a working platform for the ports that must deliver decarbonisation in practice. In a region where ports connect Europe, North Africa and the wider Mediterranean economy, that is no small endorsement.
