28 April 2020
Under the IMO Facilitation (FAL) Convention, public authorities are required to set up systems that allow digital exchange between ship and shore of information about cargoes, dangerous goods, crews, vessel details and many other issues. A new partnership between the IMO, the World Customs Organisation, the UN Economic Commission for Europe and the International Standards Organisation has been signed to support this increased maritime digitalisation. The partnership was has been effective since 15 March, but was only announced yesterday, paves the way for updating the IMO Reference Data Model and for its further development towards harmonisation of data standards in other areas, beyond the FAL Convention, such as exchanging operational data that could help facilitate just-in-time (JIT) operation of ships. JIT operation allows ships to optimise their speed, so they arrive at their destination port when their berth is ready for them, thereby saving energy and cutting costs and emissions.