Integrating blockchain technology to enhance smart seaport traffic efficiency: The case of King Abdulaziz Seaport

Abstract

The growing complexity of contemporary port ecosystems has intensified operational, technological, and coordination challenges. These challenges affect the many stakeholders involved in port traffic management. Despite ongoing digitalisation efforts, many ports still operate through fragmented systems. These are marked by limited interoperability, data silos, and reactive coordination. The result is constrained real-time visibility and limits on integrated decision-making. Traffic efficiency in smart port environments also suffers. This study examines the challenges and enabling factors influencing the integration of blockchain into smart port traffic management, using King Abdulaziz Seaport as the focal case. A qualitative interpretive approach was adopted using an exploratory multi -case designed. Semi- structured interviews were conducted with 50 participants across three interconnected cases, and the data were analysed through thematic coding. The findings identify four main challenges: (1) gaps in data accuracy and validation, (2) limitations in interoperability and scalability, (3) fragmented governance structures, and (4) limited industry-wide collaboration. These issues were identified across stakeholder perspectives, indicting system-level coordination challenges rather than isolated technical problems. Activity Theory was used as an analytical lens to interpret these findings. This analysis identified systemic contradictions, such as conflicting stakeholder objectives, as well as mediating mechanisms and interaction dynamics within the port activity system. The theory did not serve as a prescriptive model. Instead, it supported translation specific empirical challenges, such as fragmented data systems and communication gaps, into high-level design principles. These principles informed a framework to improve coordination, data integration, and decision-making in smart port traffic management. The resulting framework positions blockchain as complementary integration mechanism within a wider digital environment, incorporating inoperability, digital twin, and predictive capabilities to support trusted information exchange, coordination, and more integrated decision-making. This research contributes to the literature by developing an empirically grounded, theoretically informed framework. It advances the understanding of blockchain integration in complex port ecosystems. It further highlights digital fragmentation as a systematic barrier to achieving the full benefits of smart port technologies. The study also offers practical insights for port authorities and policymakers seeking to enhance smart port operations.