The port of Gothenburg under the influence of the fourth stage of the industrial revolution: Implementing a wide portfolio of digital tools to optimize the conduct of operations

Taking advantage of the benefits associated with the fourth stage of the industrial revolution--quite often termed as the “era of digitalization” in the wider literature--has become a main priority for ports globally, as part of their further development. The implications of smart technologies on the sustainable development of the ports have not been adequately addressed by the existing literature and it is exactly this gap that this study aims to fulfil. This paper aims to provide an overview of the innovative technologies adopted by a small number of smart ports around the world and highlight their link to sustainable development by employing an exploratory review of various sources. The design features of the smart ports identified by the existing literature have formed the basis for the development of a conceptual framework used in this paper for the analysis of the case of the Port of Gothenburg--the largest Scandinavian port, both in terms of number of visits and volume of cargo handled. The specific port is currently expanding its digital transformation by launching a platform during the second half of 2021 that will link digitally and coordinate the operations of all relevant stakeholders--shipping companies, freight forwarders, rail operators--at the port area. From the analysis, it becomes clear that the implementation of a wide portfolio of digital initiatives by the port under discussion has already resulted in the optimization of its operations and is strongly interrelated to its sustainable development. Important issues to be addressed in the near future that were identified by this research effort include the necessary cultural adaptation and training activities to ensure the right exploitation of these tools by the whole pool of the workforce.

Evaluation of the components of intelligence and greenness in Iranian ports based on network data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach

Purpose Creating green ports, while observing international and international standards and maritime conventions and regulations and moving toward smart ports, can increase the speed of goods transfer, enable the tracking of ships and goods, increase the transparency of statistics, increase the quality and capacity of ports and reduce costs. Hence, the purpose of this study the development and evaluation of ports play a key role in their commercial success. Development policies can be formulated for these ports by properly evaluating their performance indicators. On the other hand, traditional methods of performance evaluation cannot provide a good multidimensional evaluation of the status of ports. Design/methodology/approach More than 90% of the world’s heavy transit today is carried out by the sea. With this volume of freight, transit accidents are inevitable for ships passing through oceans, seas, waterways, rivers, ports and mooring at docks. Besides, gases from ships’ fuels at sea, especially in ports, oil spills due to maritime incidents, the negligence of the ship’s crew, the use of port equipment, dirty fuel of diesel power substations, etc., have increased greenhouse gases, polluted the environment and endangered human lives. Findings A new approach has been introduced in the field of port performance evaluation based on the components of greenness and intelligence. This approach performs evaluations in two stages and a network. In this study, the performance of 11 Iranian ports was evaluated based on the network data envelopment analysis approach in 2 stages of greenness and intelligence during 4 years. The results indicated that only 5% of the ports meet the standards of intelligence and greenness. Originality/value On the other hand, as shown in the above studies, the issue of green ports is directly related to the development of animal and plant ecosystems in the seas and the environment around ports. The presence of pollution in the ports has caused the animal and plant habitats around the ports to face a complete pollution crisis or to be completely destroyed. Therefore, the development of green port concepts in third world countries will help prevent environmental pollution of the seas. Therefore, it is necessary for ports to review their strategic maritime transport model and use the development of green port indicators in their implementation processes. Therefore, the strategic development of green ports is created to create and benefit from the components of intelligence, and as mentioned in previous research, intelligence and greenness are in line and the lack of development of one of the concepts causes defects in others. According to reports provided in Iran’s maritime transport systems, most accidents have led to environmental disasters during the absence of intelligent equipment. The use of smart technologies prevents all environmental damage and the development of port services. On the other hand, in evaluating the published articles in the field of development of green and smart ports, so far, the components of intelligence and greenness have not been evaluated and analyzed in a practical and operational way in ports and only the influencing the development of agents on each other has been done (Chen, 2019). Therefore, evaluating the efficiency of ports based on green components and intelligence causes ports to fundamentally review their executive infrastructure and take an active part in the global green development plan.

Reconceptualising the Nautical Fault Exception in the Fog of Emerging Technologies

It is expected that the maritime world will be significantly different by 2050, from smart ports through to blockchain-based shipping documents and autonomous vessels. As the maritime trade witnesses further developments in this field, there will be an inevitable struggle to harmonise the new technology vessels with the traditional rules of law. This article seeks to further the discussion of one of the main legal rules that will have a significant role in shaping sea carriers’ liability for goods carried by autonomous vessels: the nautical fault exception, which operates to remove, to some extent, sea carriers’ liability for losses arising from the acts or omissions of their employees. The main tenet of this article is that an adapted version of the exception should be available to govern the carriage of goods by new technology vessels. In this context, it advocates the use of legal personhood for the purposes of the nautical fault exception. In so doing, this article contributes to the important debate in employment law on the distribution of the risk of losses arising from autonomous systems when, in future, they take over tasks traditionally carried out by employees. In the absence of employment contracts to perform certain commercial activities, the law will need to decide whether legal personhood should be assigned to autonomous systems for efficient and fair risk allocation. This article illustrates why this may be the solution particularly where there is a ‘fine-tuned’ balance of liability already struck in the current legal landscape.

Use of the Blue Ocean Strategy to obtain ports 4.0

The fourth industrial revolution is characterized by a high level of digitalization of systems and processes. This revolution has reached the Spanish ports. They have been investing for years in the implementation of new technologies, aimed at promoting sustainability and environmental quality, as well as seeking a more efficient and orderly logistics. Ports are moving towards their digital transformation, which is materialized in the well-known Ports 4.0. These intelligent ports, or Smart Ports, cover a multitude of aspects and variables. Automation, digitalization, technologies that allow interoperability, transparency, decentralization, and customer experience define the context of the application of the concept 'Ports 4.0' to the Spanish logistics-port sector. How to achieve a satisfactory digitization process that allows progress towards Port 4.0 in the Spanish port system is one of the questions being raised recently. The Spanish port world could be represented by a red ocean, since in a very generalist way it can be said that it is a marked described by a fierce competition lacking in differentiation. Therefore, with this proposal, the aim is to take the Spanish port system to a blue ocean, where a suitable strategy and innovation generate leaps in value that make competitors irrelevant because customers compare different products and services. To be able to respond to this, the Blue Ocean Strategy is planted, leaving aside the competition between ports and generating new demand. From the study carried out, it is concluded that Spanish ports still have a long way to go in terms of sustainability. It also concludes that a new management model would mean the innovation in value that is necessary for the process towards ports 4.0.