Naval sector and technology: 40 years of development

The 80s represented the first truly important transformation phase of the naval sector, with the advent of paperless procedures.

However, by rewinding the tape, the first steps forward took place in the 60s, when existing transport systems evolved into integrated transport systems thanks to containerization and intermodal transport. With the enormous growth in the use of containers in maritime transport, transport costs have drastically reduced, leading to ever higher container volumes. The main ports have been transformed from conservative and unloading junction points for maritime and land transport (first generation ports) to intermodal logistic nodes that integrate transport systems and provide a wide range of logistics and distribution services (ports of third generation).

Traditional procedures for the flow of information that were previously paper-based and therefore very laborious, expensive, error-prone and time-consuming, gave way in the 60s and 70s to the development of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) paving the way to first digital transformation in the maritime sector.

In 1983 with DAKOSY the first port community system based on EDI (Port Community System, PCS) was born, which allows an exchange of electronic documents between actors involved in port operations.

In the late 80s, the development of UN / EDIFACT message standards for EDI further improved the exchange of information in integrated transport systems, in particular through the introduction of specific standards for international messages for the maritime industry.

And again in the late 80s, important paper documents, such as the bill of lading (BoL), were transformed into electronic documents.

Also around this time, the first operating systems for commercial terminals were developed, such as CITOS in 1988 and Navis in 1989, and from then on, the foundations for integrated planning and automation in container terminals were built. At the same time, the ports were facing another important structural change linked to the demand from customers for more value added logistics services (VAL) that included new roles and functions, which required greater coordination, collaboration and efficient communication between the actors.

For this reason, IT systems and applications have begun to be implemented to provide at least basic functionalities such as e-mail, reservations, billing, etc.

Subsequently, internal systems and applications were integrated to support terminal operations such as docking and stopover activities in container terminals. General business processes have therefore changed so that interdependent activities within the terminal can be better planned, managed and coordinated.

The introduction of such systems, however, required port actors to make huge investments in appropriate IT infrastructures and configurations, to share information and to adapt individual processes accordingly.

The development of inter-organizational networks required actors to primarily transform internal IT to meet the new standards. Access to external data also required actors to integrate internal systems with other systems and to adapt internal processes to make full use of external data. Port community actors who were able to meet all requirements and adapt business processes were therefore able to further benefit from competitive advantages on a global scale.

Between the 90s and 2000s there was the second important phase of digital progress in the sector: laser technologies succeed in satisfying the automated and safe handling solutions in container terminals. The first of this type was Maasvlakte Rotterdam's Delta ECT Terminal, which opened in 1993. It introduced automated guided vehicles and automated stacking cranes to manage transport between docks and containers and within the containers themselves. This transformation in favor of automated container terminals required seamless integration between the automated handling equipment and TOS containing all work orders. The trend of using IT as a push to further automate and increase the visibility of port operations continued until the late 90s.

At the same time, the continued growth of container transport for the first time seemed to highlight the limitations of the infrastructure of some large ports which led to serious traffic problems, also due to the increasing size of the vessels carrying the peak loads of transport with the hinterland. The first attempts to tackle the serious traffic problems were introduced in the early 2002st century, when the basic idea was to reduce operations during peak hours, extend opening hours and impose additional tariffs on container movements. during the allowed hours and once again technology rushed to the rescue to facilitate these operations. The terminal operators also requested prior identification checks; meanwhile, the development of automated container terminals continued rapidly with the more modern Container Terminal Altenwerder in the port of Hamburg in XNUMX.

The economic crisis of 2008-2009 led to a more rigorous assessment and selection of ports related to different performance indicators and goods moved and this has intensified competition between ports. An implication of the economic crisis has been the identification of two strategies to achieve sustainable performance: the first strategy aims to strengthen cooperation between ports, the second strategy focuses on improving coordination and collaboration between port actors. A further criterion is reactivity and flexibility with regard to changing circumstances, relating to customer needs or operational disturbances. In this context, visibility and decision support based on accurate information are essential, so instead of focusing on the exchange of static electronic documents for the management of container transport and delivery, we are prepared at the beginning of a phase that provided for the contextual processing of data in real time to enable intelligent procedures.