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Disparity in progress delaying digital adoption in maritime

The disparity in progress on digitalisation in maritime in different parts of the world was highlighted by speakers at the Marinetech conference in Singapore.

Marcus Hand, Editor

April 25, 2023

2 Min Read
green corridor panel
Photo: Marcus Hand

Speakers in the Digital and Green Corridors panel at the conference in Singapore Maritime Week highlighted the vast difference between ports such as Singapore and Rotterdam that are currently developing a digital and green corridor and many other ports still heavily reliant on physical paperwork.

Pascal Ollivier, Chair of Data collaboration Committee, International Association of Ports and Harbors, noted that there was a very advanced environment in Singapore with the digital port, but it was not like this everywhere. The reality in other locations was somewhat different with both a lack of standards and data. “Most of the time we live in a world that is hardcopy, pdf, email, and What’s App.”

Ollivier said today there were a number countries that were moving towards implementing the Maritime Single Window by 1 January 2024 as defined the International Maritime Organization (IMO), but there were also a huge number that had no system to get data on a port call. He gave the example of Fiji where 75 documents were required for vessel clearance, all either in hard copy or email.

Martijn Thijsen, Head of Ecosystem and Platform Play Digital Strategy and Transformation, Port of Rotterdam, saw a need to enable different speeds of adoption between those catching up with common and ports such as Rotterdam and Singapore trying to take the lead in digitalisation.

Related:Faster pace of maritime digitalisation needed to meet decarbonisation challenge

“I think the discussion here this week should be how can we walk and run at the same time,” he said.

For example, in port call optimisation all the regulatory measures are in place, but it requires the “walkers” to catch up for this to be globalised. “But can we run on the corridor at the same time with the fast movers whilst respecting global standards, because that's the only way we have adoptions.” Otherwise more industry specific standards would result – a situation that no-one wants.

It would require finding common denominators for global standards which would sometime require the faster runners to slow down a bit, but also the walkers to speed up sometimes and adopt new ideas.

Andre Simha, Global Chief Digital and Innovation Officer, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), and Chairman of Digital Container Shipping Association (DCSA) said that relatively creating standards was the easy part, but the difficult part was driving adoption.

“So, we need to find ways to promote the adoption as DCSA. And we also as carriers in a united way, of course, because if MSC promotes a particular standard to its customer base, but the other carriers don't, that doesn't work. So, this is why we do it together,” he stated.

Related:Singapore expands green corridors with LA/Long Beach agreement

About the Author

Marcus Hand

Editor

Marcus Hand is the editor of Seatrade Maritime News and a dedicated maritime journalist with over two decades of experience covering the shipping industry in Asia.

Marcus is also an experienced industry commentator and has chaired many conferences and round tables. Before joining Seatrade at the beginning of 2010, Marcus worked for the shipping industry journal Lloyd's List for a decade and before that the Singapore Business Times covering shipping and aviation.

In November 2022, Marcus was announced as a member of the Board of Advisors to the Singapore Journal of Maritime Talent and Technology (SJMTT) to help bring together thought leadership around the key areas of talent and technology.

Marcus is the founder of the Seatrade Maritime Podcast that delivers commentary, opinions and conversations on shipping's most important topics.

Conferences & Webinars

Marcus Hand regularly moderates at international maritime events. Below you’ll find a list of selected past conferences and webinars.

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