The Facilitation Committee met in person at IMO Headquarters in London for its forty-eighth session (FAL 48) from 8 to 12 April 2024, where the current state of port digitalization was explored.
As informed, the Committee noted the findings of an industry survey on the current state of digitalization within ports. The BIMCO paper, supported by China, Liberia, Republic of Korea, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, and the ISO (International Standardization Organization), aimed to leverage digitalization for improved efficiency, safety, and sustainability in ship design, operation, and port activities.
Of the total respondents, 40% were unaware of the IMO regulations in the FAL Convention mandating MSW systems worldwide. According to the survey, in 64% of the port calls made by the respondents, port authorities were still requiring either paper submissions or a mix of paper and digital submissions. On average, respondents spent more than three hours (191 minutes) preparing and submitting the necessary documents required at every single port call.
As IMO notes, the survey indicated a need for standardized and harmonized digital systems across ports globally, given the wide range of different port call interfaces and documentation among Member States, as well as the lack of IT infrastructure on many ships that would enable more efficient data exchange with ports.
The Committee agreed to continue discussions on the development of an overarching IMO strategy on digitalization at the next session, under a new output at FAL 49 (subject to Council’s endorsement), and the recommendations from the survey will be discussed under the new output on IMO digitalization strategy.
