Rough seas ahead? Mario Cordero knows that.

Cordero, former chair of the Federal Maritime Commission and longtime figure in the shipping industry, was chosen Friday to run the Port of Long Beach.

The cargo hub partners with the Port of Los Angeles to comprise the busiest port complex in the nation.

Cordero’s experience is deep, his expertise established. So he understands quite well that he — along with his L.A. peer, Gene Seroka — has challenges to face.

What’s on the horizon? Oh, only the shipping industry emerging from an international slump, a massive infrastructure project, looming labor contract talks and the tightening of already challenging environmental standards.

Good luck, sir.

Here are five of the most pressing scenarios awaiting the ports:

1. Regulation

The California Air Resources Board is in the midst of formulating new rules that could require all docked cargo vessels to cut emissions beyond levels that are already among the toughest in the nation.

Currently, 70 percent of all container and cruise ships must plug into electric power well at berth, but regulators want to see improvement by 2030.

Regulators also want terminal operators to replace many of the fossil-fuel-burning cranes, tractors, yard trucks and forklifts with cleaner-fueled alternatives.

Meanwhile, Gov. Jerry Brown is pushing for more zero-emission cargo trucks.

And the twin ports are developing new clean-air requirements aimed at reducing greenhouse gas and smog-forming particulates.

It won’t be cheap.

Consulting firm Moffat & Nichol estimates the price tag for the two ports and Oakland to replace equipment with all zero- or near zero-emission technology at $23 billion.

Sure, both ports have committed to the cleanup. But the question remains: Who will fund it?

2. Labor

Nobody wants a repeat of the crippling labor slowdown that rocked the docks in 2014 and 2015.

The standoff rippled through the nation’s economy, left businesses unable to stock shelves and stuck farmers with rotting produce on the idled docks.

By some estimates, the slowdown cost the economy more than $7 billion. And it marred the ports’ image among retailers and suppliers.

Delegates representing 20,000 International Longshore and Warehouse Union workers at 29 ports will meet at district headquarters in San Francisco in the coming weeks to discuss whether to extend their current five-year contract, which expires on July 1, 2019.

Last year, nearly two dozen members of Congress signed a letter urging for a speedy resolution. Industry officials are watching closely.

3. Competition

The West Coast — once considered the natural route for cargo heading East — has been losing market share to hubs in the Gulf, on the Eastern seaboard and various points abroad.

More than a decade ago, around half of the nation’s imported goods came through the twin ports. Now, it’s 37 percent.

An expanded Panama Canal opened last year, intensifying fears that such retail giants as Wal-Mart and Home Depot could bypass Southern California’s ports.

But many of the Gulf and Eastern ports aren’t ready to handle many of the bigger ships with bigger loads the shippers are now using, that could be changing. They’re sinking billions into upgrading their infrastructure.

Meanwhile, there’s increased competition from Port Lázaro Cárdenas in Mexico and Prince Rupert in Canada.

To keep pace, both Long Beach and Los Angeles are upgrading their terminals.

A $4.5 billion infrastructure enhancement is underway in Long Beach, including an expanded, automated Middle Harbor Terminal.

But long-term planning in such an uncertain industry is tough. And incurring the debt for such projects can be risky.

4. Trade policy

Months ago, then-candidate Donald Trump said he would slap a 45 percent tariff on goods from China, the nation’s largest trading partner and the leading importer at the two local ports. And he vowed to label the Asian superpower a currency manipulator.

But last week now-President Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping at his resort in Florida. Perhaps now believing that coping with volatile North Korea calls for more Pacific Rim teamwork than he’d originally wagered, Trump has visibly softened his stances. And he hasn’t been afraid to say he’s open to changing his views.

Peter Navarro — the Team Trump insider with the most hard-line stand on China — appears to be taking a back seat to others with more moderate approaches.

That could be a good sign for trade-dependent California. And for retailers stocking shelves with lower-priced Made-in-China electronics and fashions. And for shippers at the ports whose job depends on Asian container traffic.

Port officials will surely lobby hard. But they likely won’t have much sway over the still-tough-to-predict actions of the new president.

5. Alliances

The cargo business made headlines last year. The wrong kind.

Hanjin Shipping melted down in public, stranding crews and ships packed with goods at ports around the globe — and revealing an industry in crisis.

Operating losses of $3.5 billion plagued the world’s biggest shippers.

In response, they created new alliances with competitors to cut costs and ease overcapacity.

Such agreements allow shipping lines to pool their resources and use one another’s vessels to move cargo.

Shippers allied in the three pacts now carry 90 percent of the goods along the Asia-North America route, giving them enormous power to shape the future of West Coast ports.

Companies working together can run fewer ships — but bigger ones packed with more boxes. In the months ahead, that could put pressure on dock crews to unload and load ships faster and more efficiently.

Fewer ships could also intensify competition between the Southern California ports.

The strength of the new alliances, however, could be tested. The U.S. is concerned the alliances could lead to anti-competitive behavior.

Last month, Reuters reported the Department of Justice served subpoenas to several executives at shipping lines as part of a price-fixing probe in the container industry.