2026· E3S Web of Conferences· Vol 722, pp. 01004· 0 citations· 6 references
Abstract
Maritime transport and port systems are facing major transformations driven by decarbonisation, vessel automation, and the growing digitalisation of navigation and port logistics. These changes are likely to affect shipping routes, service organisation, the expected skillset of workers, and port hierarchies within regional maritime systems. This paper presents a methodological framework to investigate possible maritime network transitions in the Ligurian Sea up to 2050 within the Interreg Marittimo JASON project. The study area is treated as a cross-border navigation system linking the French and Italian Riviera and Monaco, with strong interactions between dense traffic corridors, major and secondary ports, supervision systems, and environmentally sensitive zones such as PELAGOS. We intend to use Automatic Identification System (AIS) trajectories with complementary data on vessel characteristics, port infrastructure, weather and operational hazards, and environmental constraints. On this basis, General Morphological Analysis (GMA) will be used to structure a scenario space and to compare three tentative illustrative transition archetypes for 2050. The proposed framework is intended to specify the data used for the case study, and show how contrasting maritime futures can support the discussion of network evolution, port adaptation, and reskilling needs.
Climate change is reshaping maritime infrastructures and requires ports to move beyond isolated asset protection towards more integrated adaptation strategies. This paper examines how climate-change adaptation is operationalised in French commercial ports within the framework of PNACC 3 and the national warming trajectory for adaptation (TRACC). Drawing on recent feedback from Bordeaux, La Rochelle, Martinique, La Réunion and Dunkerque, it shows that ports face multiple interacting hazards, including sea-level rise, marine flooding, intense rainfall, runoff, heat and cyclonic hazards. Adaptation becomes operational through the combination of strategic, organisational and infrastructure-oriented approaches. The comparison highlights four recurrent pillars: multi-hazard diagnosis, combined physical and functional vulnerability, integration into asset management and long-term planning, and recognition of territorial interdependencies.
Juan-José Carpio-Péréz, Nina François-Bongarçon, Jeanne-Marie Guoiffès· E3S Web of Conferences· 0 citations
European maritime transport policy emphasises the criticality of a well-functioning waterborne transport system as a key element towards realising sustainable economic growth in Europe. An important part in this equation is a required transition to low- or zero-carbon fuels. However, if one is to succeed on such a pathway, eventually leading to net zero emissions by 2050, more energy-efficient ship and port operations are crucial. The need for such operational changes becomes particularly evident when looking at today’s operations, where the prevailing practice is commonly referred to as “the hurry up and wait syndrome”. Here, ships often sail between ports as fast as possible to secure terminal and berth availability, frequently ending up waiting for days, sometimes weeks, on anchorage outside ports. As of congested waters, not only does this have a negative impact on navigational safety, but energy-wise it is also a highly sub-optimal way of operating a ship. One main reason for this is that most ports still operate on a first-come first-served basis. Hence, cutting emissions from making changes in modus operandi should clearly be attainable. This potential for improvement is backed up by numbers, and according to the World Bank, around 15 percent of ships’ greenhouse gas emissions on average are associated with port operations. In addition, as merchant ships spend on average 5% on their operational time waiting at anchorage, there is also an untapped potential to reduce emissions at sea from converting this waiting time into slower sailing time, estimated at up to 25 percent. As a direct response to this challenge, this paper presents a viable way forward by introducing the EU-funded DYNAPORT project method on how to facilitate “just-in-time” arrivals, and thereby as a contribution towards realising more energy efficient ship operations and port call optimisation. Key aspects are seamless digital coordination between ships and ports, optimisation tools that ensure safe voyage optimisation planning with energy optimal sailing given weather conditions and ship performance data, and an arrival time to the berth that has been agreed on by all shore actors, including the port, terminal and the ship representative. This includes new port call processes that are supported by standardized communication and early exchange of reliable data between ship and shore, enabling seamless coordination between all actors.
E. Holte, K. Fjørtoft, M. Hagaseth et al.· 0 citations
Efficient maritime logistics between mainland ports and island destinations is essential for trade and regional integration in East Africa. This study develops a sequentially coupled optimisation framework for cargo movement from Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar, Comoros, and Seychelles. A multi-sink Max-Flow model is used to determine feasible cargo allocation under shared route-capacity constraints, while a berth scheduling model evaluates vessel operations at destination ports. The analysis is based on a synthetic dataset developed from port throughput statistics, vessel specifications, and service assumptions for methodological demonstration. Results show a feasible combined throughput of 37 000 TEUs across the three destinations. Profit-adjusted routing results indicate net profits of about US$4.49 million for Dar es Salaam–Zanzibar, US$3.60 million for Dar es Salaam–Comoros, and US$3.00 million for Dar es Salaam–Seychelles. Vessel turnaround times range from 8.5 h for the Zanzibar service to 23.5 h for the Seychelles service, with higher delays and cost penalties observed on longer and more constrained routes. The framework demonstrates the value of integrating routing and berth scheduling to improve cargo distribution, reduce delays, and support maritime logistics planning.
M. M. Kunambi, Hongxing Zheng· Maritime Engineering· 0 citations
Cities are increasingly addressing mobility challenges by restricting road traffic, particularly traditional road vehicles that generate greenhouse gas emissions. As an alternative, unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) are emerging as a promising solution for future mobility, offering fast, quiet, cost-effective and environmentally friendly operations. For last-mile delivery, small drones operating at low altitudes are considered especially promising and are already being deployed in some urban areas. According to the EU Drone Strategy 2.0, drone services could generate a market of 14.5 billion and create 145,000 jobs in Europe by 2030. As this sector is still in its early stages, there is a significant uncertainty about the optimal organisation of urban air traffic. In this paper we present a realistic prognosis of how unmanned traffic over a city will utilise the urban very-low-level airspace and assess it using two concepts of operations, with non-structured or structured airspace, both aiming to facilitate the coexistence of competitors sharing the same urban low level airspace. The two concepts are evaluated with delivery operations at scale for a large and densely populated European city. Results for a normalised scenario of 3500 daily operations show that structured airspace produces more conflicts than non-structured airspace (e.g., 316 vs. 54, respectively), and that only for the non-structured airspace can all conflicts be solved with a simple strategic altitude reassignment (vs. 10% of unresolved conflicts for structured airspace). The artificial organisation of slim urban airspace may limit the scalability of business delivery while not reducing the conflict rate.
Marc Melgosa, J. Kuljanin, Jairo Lopez et al.· Drones· 0 citations
The contribution of the shipping sector to the fight against climate change and, particularly, to the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions has been high on the maritime agenda for the last decade. In this context, the International Maritime Organization and the European Union, two international organizations that strive to regulate shipping emissions, adopt several policies, measures, or tools to that end. This article explores whether and to what extent the decisions of the two respective organizations will have geopolitical repercussions that might affect shipping and trade operations. The findings, at least for the time being, suggest that existing climate policies are diverging, thereby increasing the complexity and uncertainty of the geopolitical landscape. This results in multiple potential scenarios concerning which countries will assume leadership in maritime fuel trading.
George Dikaios, Marianna Terezaki, Dimitris Gavalas· Ocean and Society· 1 citation
Future maritime capabilities such as smart ships, remote pilotage, and drone-based surveillance rely on reliable wireless communication with onshore command and control systems. However, maritime wireless communication is often affected by the dynamic sea weather and vessel movements. Wireless connectivity therefore cannot be treated as an always reliable link. Rather, its variations must be integrated into maritime capability planning and operational design. This paper reports our ongoing work toward a Maritime Radio Network Digital Twin (RNDT) which enables a connectivity-aware maritime planning workflow. The workflow links capability and mission connectivity requirements such as coverage, throughput, and latency to measurement-backed evidence. It then translates that evidence into planning outputs such as predicted outage zones, cell handover windows, and connectivity-aware operating envelopes. We present preliminary field measurements and simulation-based modelling results to illustrate the approach. Overall, our work aims to establish the RNDT with closed validation loops and evidence-based analysis to support safe and scalable connected maritime operations.
Anh Tuan Hoang, Gary C. F. Lee, Ernest Kurniawan et al.· 0 citations
