Opportunity for green maritime transportation

Maritime transportation plays a crucial role in global trade, ensuring necessary supplies for most of the world’s population. However, it also poses a serious threat to the environment due to high CO2 emissions. Also the European Union, with the recent 2024/1679 regulation on guidelines for the development of the trans-European transport network, has underlined that seaports “play an important role as multimodal nodes, and aims to create a sustainable, smart, seamless, and resilient European Maritime Space, where the land-side infrastructure network is closely integrated with the maritime dimension of the trans-European transport network”. In April 2018, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) adopted Resolution MEPC.304 (72), "Initial Imo Strategy On Reduction Of GHG Emissions From Ships." This resolution aims to contain greenhouse gas emissions in international maritime transportation and represents one of the many steps towards zero-emission mobility. Among the actions proposed by the IMO is the implementation of voyage planning through broad-spectrum organizational techniques based on the principles of just-in-time (JIT) arrival of ships, which allows for optimizing the journey and the ship’s port call. The IMO believes that the application of certain JIT principles to maritime transportation could reduce inbound and outbound ship traffic from ports, reduce costs, and protect environmental resources. JIT Arrival enhances the functional interplay between digital infrastructure, such as ICT systems, EMSWe, and VTMIS, and the physical infrastructure of ports. The successful implementation of JIT Arrival depends on high levels of digital interoperability and real-time data exchange between shipping companies, port authorities, terminal operators, and hinterland transport providers. This reinforces the importance of investing in intelligent transport systems as a component of maritime infrastructure, as explicitly recognized by EU Regulation 2024/1679