A proven single window system for all stakeholders, a voyage calculator including carbon footprint and a community 5G network – all strong finalists selected by the jury with winner to be announced at IAPH Guangzhou 2019 World Ports Conference
The port industry is currently undergoing a transformation, with disruptive technologies and innovations being widely adopted and changing the way cargo and passenger traffic is handled by ports and their operators. Digitisation will provide the impulse towards more resilient infrastructure in ports. It will bring efficiency improvements in terms of just-in-time vessel arrival and departure planning, time at berth, port capacity, loading & discharge productivity and hinterland mobility and connectivity.
Simplifying trade facilitation – Abu Dhabi Ports' MAMAR Single Window System to the World
Innovative and cost-efficient use of digital applications to handle major infrastructural and service challenges in ports include the implementation of Port "Single Window" systems. These systems smoothen the handling of both cargo and passengers by efficiently connecting up stakeholders such as authorities, operators, customs, ships and port agents, forwarders and shippers.
Abu Dhabi Ports' Single Window System (MAMAR) currently connects 5 ports and 54 private jetties with many of the world's best known liner shipping companies and covers 100+ services from shore to hinterland. It is also integrated with 3 single windows and 11 ports in China, Belgium and Spain.
Connecting shippers to their service providers for sea- and land-leg routes – Port of Barcelona's Port Links Portal
A fine example of an online tool serving cargo owners is the Port Links online portal developed by the Port of Barcelona. This purpose-built system permits exporters, importers, traders and forwarders to calculate the optimum route for their cargo from point of origin to destination, including all the European-wide intermodal options to and from its port. Simple data entry produces a map result with a graphic representation of the optimum route and aggregate results for distance, CO2 equivalent, emissions, variable costs and transit times.
A 5G Smart Sea Port testbed – Hamburg Port Authority
Another fine example of digital infrastructure innovation relates to the upgrading of telecommunications capacity for the port community. The 5G Mobile Network Architecture (MoNArch) research project at the Hamburg Port Authority covers the 8,000 hectares of testing ground in the port area, with a transmitter located on top of the Heinrich-Hertz Television Tower. This network, which operates at extremely high speeds of 10 gigabits per second, will enable multiple new applications to improve vessel and traffic circulation, real time environmental measurements and other applications using virtual and augmented reality, thereby creating a safer and interconnected port environment.
With such technology, many predict that automation and real-time data handling will enable the application of artificial intelligence and predictive forecasting using big data collated from devices throughout the port, improving connectivity, efficiency, and accessibility for the port community it serves.
To see all six categories and finalists in each , check out our competition area here.
For those who would like to vote (maximum one session to vote for up to all six categories), please click here.
Contact details for the IAPH World Ports Sustainability Awards:
Antonis Michail, Technical Director – World Ports Sustainability Program
email : antonis.michail@sustainableworldports.org