1. Introduction
Information systems have a great
importance and comprehensive to
the development of maritime
transport [
1
]. Through information
systems can be monitor and manage
all traffic caused by port actors and
stakeholders. Seaports have a major
role in the economic growth of a
country. Through the ports are
exchanged tons of different goods
each day between a country and the
trading partners with whom it does
business, directly affecting the
economic growth of the country [
2
].
Albania has a very favorable
geographical position in the
southeast of the Balkans, with a
coastline about 420km with
favorable natural conditions to give
priority to the maritime sector. In
recent years there has been a
significant increase in maritime
traffic in Albania related to the
transport of people and goods.
Currently in Albania operate 5 ports
[
3
]:
1. The port of Durres which is the
biggest port in Albania. It
covers about 75% of imports /
exports and has a processing
capacity of 4 million tons of
goods per year.
2. Port of Vlora is the second port
in Albania, 90 km from Durres
Port. This port serves
passengers and goods,
covering about 10% of imports
/ exports.
3. The port of Himara which
mainly serves tourism in
Himara and surrounding areas.
4. Port of Shengjin is about 60
km far by Durres ‘port. It is in
the process of development in
order to increase its
processing capacities, to be as
an important link to Kosovo in
access to the sea.
5. The port of Saranda is in the
south of Albania which serves
passengers and goods.
Currently, Albania is in the transition
phase of maritime information
systems, where most port operations
are performed manually. In ports
are performed a large number of
operations between port actors and
stakeholders such as [
4
]: Owners
and carriers require on-line access
about the information they need;
Traders buy their goods online and
want information about the goods;
Ship owners want to know about the
itinerary, departure and arrival of
their ship and container; Maritime
agents want to timely submit
relevant information to ensure
passage for ships and cargo;
Container operators want to know
the location of each container to
avoid delays and create traffic; The
Port Captain and Port Operators
require information on the ship,
cargo, arrival time, departure to
organize their operations also in
relation to marine life and safety;
Environmental specialists want
information on goods, ships, the
possibility of pollution from them to
take preventive measures ect,
making the ports thus face great
difficulties to manage created traffic.
Information systems and digital data
transformation play a vital role in
managing these operations [
5
]. The
integration of ports towards smart
ports provides a high reliability, fast
response, high economic benefits,
low energy consumption,
sustainability, low pollution and more
scalability and flexibility for all port
actors [
6
]. This paper presents a
study of marine information systems.
First, are analyzed the current
information systems in Albania,
analyzing the problems that they
have and after this are proposed
some intelligent solutions that meets
the requirements of all port actors
and stakeholders according to
international standards. The rest of
the paper is structured as follows:
Section 2 presents the MIS in modern
transport and logistic industries.
Section 3 presents the current MIS in
Albania. Section 4 presents the
discussion and some
recommendations. And some
conclusions are listed in the section 5.
Industries
This section present various MIS that
store, manage, analyze and
disseminate information about traffic
created between port actors and
stakeholders.
A. National Single Window (NSW) and EU’s Single Window facility
NSW is considered as a platform
that have integrated some
heterogeneous information systems
into a Single Window environment,
by serving all participants actors with
the information they want [
7
]. A NSW
allow all participants involved in
trade and transport to exchange
information about exports, imports,
taking into account all their
requirements. The SW platform take
into account three main
management levels such as
presented in [
8
]: Local SW are
systems that manage data from all
actors of the local port. NSW are
systems that manage data from all
ports of the country.EU SW are
systems that manage and exchange
seaports data internationally.
To improve information sharing and
management these systems should
be synchronized and integrated with
the Port Community System (PCS)
[
9
]. The PCS combines and
exchanges data among all the
stakeholders. PCS provides a
communication link between
organizations that operate in the port
environment including shippers,
shipping lines, terminal operators,
drayage companies, and port
authorities. The main goal of PCS is
to improve administrative and
logistics processes on a long term
basis [
10
]. PCS is considered as a
local platform that is built upon EDI
standards [
11
]. Specifically regarding
customs handling, the PCS should
comply with certain requirements in
terms of information exchange
between customs administrations
and economic operators, and with
national and international authorities.
B. Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) and
Vessel Traffic Management
Information Systems (VTMIS)
Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) [
12
]
and Vessel Traffic Information
System (VTIS), [
13
] have an
important role in maritime traffic
management and are responsible for
the collection, processing and
dissemination of information
obtained from various sources
related to the itinerary that ships
make. To achieve this purpose, VTS
are based on different technologies
that gather, process, and share
information between involved actors.
This includes radar systems [
14
],
CCTV Systems [
15
], VHF systems [
16
]
ect. The automatic identification
system (AIS) is one of the most used
technologies for tracking vessel
positions [
17
]. This technology is
based on Automatic Identification
System Satellite [
18
] which monitor
real-time ship positioning in
accordance with the requirements of
the International Maritime
Organization [
19
]. GPS devices also
enable the identification and
exchange of data for the positioning
of vessels which are usually
connected with VTS systems [
20
].
The application of WSN [
21
] widely
used in the localization of vessels,
containers, which can be integrated
with VTS systems, by define
coordinates of all objects that the
port authority needs. Different
technologies of wireless sensor
networks can be used: based on GPS
[
22
] or based on itself localization
[
23
]. VTS are usually part of a
National Port. Services offered by
VTS such as: ship data, ship
processing hours, radar surveillance,
marine information usually need to
be shared between port actors and
stakeholders. Vessel Traffic
Monitoring Information Systems
(VTMIS) is consider as is an
extension of the VTS, in the form of
an Integrated Maritime Surveillance.
VTMIS has in itself an integrated set
of information systems that monitors
maritime traffic; provide the
exchange of information at national,
regional and international level;
prevent and detect ship
contamination ect, based on EU
directives [
24
]. Fig.1 present the
diagram of the input and output
components and subsystems of a
VTMIS.
Fig.1.Schematic diagram of the
input and output components and
subsystems of a VTMIS [
24
]
VTMIS has a Management
Information System (MIS) integrated
[
25
], that hold intelligent processing
capabilities of information passed on
by the VTS, or fed directly by
database. Information collected by a
VTS should be processed and made
available in order to improve and
facilitate performance management
of the port activities. SafeSeaNet is
consider as a traffic monitoring
information system [
26
] that can be
integrated into the VTSMIS system
and it is meant to serve: Port
Security, Protection of the Marine
Environment and Traffic and shipping
efficiency. This system exchanges
data internationally between
countries that have integrated it.
C. Port Management Information
Systems (PMIS)
Nowadays in modern ports
management of operations between
port actors and stakeholders have a
very important role. Ongoing efforts
to modernize and maintain
operational services have led to the
development of process-oriented
toward PMIS. This way ports can
better address sustainability through
a comprehensive approach that
encompasses the four dimensions
economic, environmental, social, and
time [
27
]. Such a platform is DAKOSY
[
28
]. The DAKOSY platform offers
intelligent transportation and
logistics solutions through business
partners, port authorities and global
PCS. This platform shares all the
necessary documents for transport
and logistic such as: shipping orders,
customs orders, dangerous goods
notifications, port orders,
consignment sheets, etc. according
to EU standard. The DAKOSY
platform includes several local SW
platforms integrated into it. Import
Message Platform (IMP) supports the
requirements of carriers, terminals,
freight forwarders, transport
companies, importers and the
relevant authorities to operate as a
Single Window environment. It allows
electronic and automatic exchange
of information by speeds up the
process of work. For each import
process, IMP creates a database that
is updated and helps improve
planning and scheduling options for
all participants. The Export Message
Platform (EMP) is another system
integrated into DAKSY. This system
exchange messages and customs
information with all business
partners at the port, including
terminals and carriers as well as
relevant authorities. All messages
can be shared via interface to IT
systems or communicated to
business partners and authorities via
software solutions. DAKOSY has
developed the ZAPP-Sea platform
specifically tailored to the Customs
export processes of the Port.
ZAPPSea is connected to the central
customs system, enabling automated,
fast and electronic export processing
which takes into account all
requirements of customs authorities.
The dangerous goods information
system GEGIS is another system
integrated at DAKOSY for the safety
and monitoring of dangerous goods
transports in the port. It provides the
water police and fire brigade real
time information of all dangerous
goods movements to, from and
within the port area. PRISE
information system is integrated at
DAKOSY for information all ship
arrival and departure paths. It
supplies terminals, pilots,
carriers/brokers, tugs, belayers and
the harbour master’s office with a
wealth of up-to-date information. The
data provided includes berth
planning and registration at the
terminals, status information about
ship positions, ship notifications from
pilots, responsibility reports for
tugboats and belayers as well as
water level predictions from the
Federal Maritime and Hydrographic
Agency. Freight forwarders and
loaders simplify their processes by
using the eBooking systems for
bookings. The booking requests are
sent via DAKOSY or via the INTTRA
booking portal directly to the
addressed carriers/brokers. The
freight forwarders also receive
booking confirmations and further
status information electronically.
Through eDeclaration system,
carriers and vessel declarants can
fulfil all reporting requirements when
entering and/or departing from EU
ports. The messages are recorded
electronically in eDeclaration and
sent to the NSW. The eDeclaration is
also used by many port authorities.
They can use the software to collect
and process vessel information from
carriers and vessel declarants in the
NSW. Additional modules have been
developed for ports to simplify their
work processes. These include a
berth management module, a
dangerous goods module, a statistics
module and an easy way to export
documents. Using the VGM Portal,
forwarders and loaders can
communicate all information
regarding the verified gross
container weight to the carrier.
Customers can choose between the
EDI platform and the web application.
Recently the DAKOSY launches
myboxplace.de, the digital exchange
system for empty containers. The
goal of this system is to reduce
transports of empty containers and
to save time and money. So, through
the DAKOSY Intelligent Platform all
port actors and stakeholders, receive
the information they want in
electronic form according to EU
standards.
D. Smart Ports
A smart port is an automated port
that uses new technologies such as
big data, Internet of Things (IoT),
blockchain solutions and other smart
technology to improve performance
and economic competitiveness [
29
].
The first step in the transition of
seaports from traditional ports to
smart ports is the development of
both the Port Community Systems
and the National Single Window [
30
].
Smart ports integrate a range of
applications into a smart platform.
These applications are classified as
follows [
31
]: NSW is considered as a
platform that have integrated some
heterogeneous information systems
into a Single Window environment
[
7
];Port community system (PCS)
that is deployed to share information
among port users and port managing
bodies [
8
];Vessel traffic services
(VTS) [
13
] and Vessel Traffic
Information System (VTIS) [
14
] which
allow port authorities to control
vessel movements approaching the
port or within port areas;Terminal
operating systems (TOS) that are
used for managing container
terminal operations [
32
]; Gate
appointment systems that have been
deployed to managed arrivals of
trucks at terminals [
33
]; Automated
gate systems, which facilitate the
management of port or terminal gate
systems automatically [
34
];
Automated yard systems, which
allow the automated management of
terminal yards [
35
]; Port road and
traffic control information systems
that are used to measure and control
the traffic flows into and from the
port [
36
];Intelligent transport
systems (ITS) that make use of
sensors and IT systems to managed
transport infrastructure [
37
];
Recently Internet of Thing (IOT)
technology provides intelligent
solutions to collect and monitor data
in the seaports [
38
]. As the presence
of sensing solutions in ports becomes
a reality, different operation areas
are working today in automatic mode.
In this way IOT helps to make
intelligent decisions about logistics
and transportation management. The
application of blochchain technology
is another key tool in smart ports
[
39
]. This technology has a wide
range of applicability, allowing
connecting the supply chain more
efficiently, providing the exchange
and visibility of time-stamped
proofed data, decreasing the
industry operational costs with
intermediaries and increasing
security. Another key issue in smart
ports is big data generation and the
need to process them in real time. In
order to process big data in real time
and extract the required information
from it, cloud computing and
distributed technology are applied
combined with data mining and
machine learning methods [
40
]. This
technology is feasible which has
practical value and significance.
Applications of Big Data in maritime
industry, improve logistics
optimization, safety and energy
efficiency improvement, as well as
the challenges that systems
involving Big Data are faced [
41
].
The integration of seaports into
smart ports has a number of
advantages such as [
42
]: low labor
costs, low transportation costs, little
pollution, high intelligence, high
reliability, fast response, more safety,
sustainable development, low energy
consumption and high economic
benefits.
Albania
Currently Albania is in the first steps
of integrating information systems
towards intelligent platforms. Most
operations in Albanian ports are still
carried out manually. This paper is
focused mainly on the port of Durres,
which is the main port operating in
Albania. The Port of Durres operates
in several directions, such as:
passenger ships, RO / RO ships,
container ships and general cargo
ships. Also Porto Romano in Durres is
the first port in Albania that operates
in the import / export of oil and its
sub products. Currently the technical
and managerial level of maritime
transport is low, lacking many
elements of modern and necessary
infrastructure. Considering the traffic
created by goods, passengers,
maritime tourism, the infrastructure
of this port must be developed in
many ways. The main actors causing
traffic in the port of Durres and the
current MIS are:
A. Durres Port Authority(DPA)
DPA requires information from all
port agents. Currently in the port of
Durres is used a software that
operates locally, prepares the bill
and delivery it in the electronic form
and does not communicate online
with other stakeholders.
B. Institutional actors
- The General Port Captains
receives manually information from
agents on arrival of a vessel and
plans resources and input for vessel
navigation, towing, launching,
surveillance of port security
measures, and maritime traffic
control at the port.
- The Regional Directorate of
Border Police & Immigration aims at
border protection and is currently
working with professional police TIMS
system [
43
] on the national network
but has no communication with
almost all other port actors.
- Customs system uses Asycuda
software [
44
] to connect customs
agents with the central customs
system.
C. Port Services Agency (PSA)
PSA include: Naval Service Ships
(NSSH), Marine Cleaning (MC),
Shipyard, Import-Export Agency(IEA),
Custom Agency (CA), Maritime
Transport Agency (MTA), Passenger
Transport Agency(PTA), Goods
Transport Agency(GTA). MTA and
PTA use the software Forth Crs [
45
]
and Citrix [
46
] for coordinating work
with global operators and
communicating only traditionally
with local operators and DPA. ATM
spend a lot of money on mobile
phones and communicate only
traditionally with port operators. AIE
use digital platforms providing
realtime website information but the
problem is that the platforms are not
unified, while exchanging
information with institutional actors
is performed with papers and faxes.
D. Port Operators (PO)
PO communicate with other actors
traditionally, there is no information
system to communicate between
operators.
E. Shipowners
Shipowners request information
for port rates, traffic, facilities by
DPA regarding the availability of
information from PO and ship
information from GTA so that his ship
can stay in port as little as possible.
The information comes late,
fragmented at a time when the
global market is operating
electronically.
F. Buyers of goods
Buyers of goods request real-time
information from the IEA on the
location of their goods, information
from DPA for the facilities for the
rapid discharge of its goods and
continuity. IEA receives information
from digital platforms and continue
communication with buyers of goods
traditionally, in the same form and
with the customs agency. So by
doing a summary analysis, the
current situation in the Port of Durres
is as follows:
- Communication between local
port operators is done with letters,
faxes, telephones, e-mails, lacking
an information system to present
real-time port traffic
- Only a few operators have
installed professional global
ecommerce software
- Bills and bank payments are
scanned and resend with fax and
email on global trading platforms
- Billing of services for the local
market continues to be with paper
bill
- Bills are delivered manually
- Payment of bills is done manually
or sent scanned to the bank via
email.
In the maritime transport strategy,
port captains have an important role
related to safety, health and
vigilance of marine life. On one hand,
the captains monitor port security
measures, control maritime traffic on
sea routes, and monitor the
protection of the marine
environment from pollution and on
the other hand, they coordinate
services by surveying the coasts.
Currently, the port of Durres has an
information management
infrastructure consisting of: CCTV
[
15
], VHF & MF/HF [
16
], Radar
[
14,47
], NAVTEX &AIS [
48
], GPS [
49
].
Captains communication about
VTMIS requirements is done mainly
by paper correspondence from
shipping agents or operators. So
management of port traffic is far
from managements of modern
European ports. For passenger traffic
in 2013 it was installed by DPA, the
“eBoarding” system [
50
]. The
eBoarding system is an applicative
platform that is used for centralized
check-in in port environment that
allow the management of the entire
process of check-in and verifying
border crossing cards, both during
the transit phase at the port and
during the access phase at the
crossing areas. It also enables
realtime control of all vehicles that have
entered and are present at the port.
All management and monitoring
functions are accessible via a Web
interface. Another important issue in
this domain is Environmental
Pollution Monitoring at the ports,
where a platform called ECOPORT
[
51
] currently operates at the Port of
Durres. The goal of EcoPorts is to
raise environmental protection
through cooperation and sharing of
knowledge between ports and
improve environmental management.
Recommendations and
Referring to the current situation of
MIS in Albanian we can say that the
Albanian’ MIS are fragmented and far
from international standards. This is
accompanied by risks to the
performance of port regions and the
maritime transport and logistics
industry. The lack of an intelligent
platform to manage port traffic
brings: poor port traffic management,
reduced port activity in Albania
versus regional ports, reduced
transport and logistics industry
revenues and consequently a
decrease in the national economy.
Taking into account the geographical
position, freight and passenger
traffic, the development of maritime
tourism, current information systems
and literature review, we propose a
strategic plan to develop IS of
Albanian ports towards the intelligent
platforms that consists from three
phase:
I. Analysis and stabilization of
information systems that serve port
management
II. Analysis and stabilization of
information systems that serve
stakeholders
III. Integration of ports towards
smart ports
During the development of the first
phase, it is recommended to
implement VTS and VTMIS systems
integrated according to European
standards. These systems will
monitor maritime areas and manage
traffic between port actors. The
integration of these systems would
be ideal in terms of maritime traffic
management, as the most advanced
intelligent platforms of European
ports such as Dakosy are solutions
that do not serve the Albanian ports,
as Albanian ports are relatively small.
During the second phase it is
recommended that the Port Authority
should completely unify and
digitalize in an integrated system the
information of the national seaports
by providing access for both state
institutions and private actors and
port services operating in the Port of
Durres and other ports of the country.
Referring to the intelligent platforms
implemented in European ports, this
phase requires large-scale
computerization; connection of
regional companies with global
partners; goods owners and all
logistics chain actors should be given
online access about the information
they want; buyers of goods that buy
electronically should be given the
coordinates of their goods at any
time; port operators must be
informed in real time about the
location of the ships and the time of
arrival at the port; the customs
authority must submit on time the
ship's documentation to the port
authority and the customs system to
ensure the free passage of the ship
and the goods ect. In order to
accomplish these operations and
other, during this phase it is
recommended to implement the
“Single Window” platform as the
most suitable for the MIS of Albania.
In the third phase, it is
recommended to integrate the port
of Durres and other Albania ports
towards smart ports. During this
phase it is recommended to
implement technologies such as:
Internet of Things, Blockchain, Big
Data, Data Mining and Machine
Learning applications. This is
considered the future of Albanian
ports. Referring to studies conducted
by the literature, Table 1 summarizes
a comparison between technologies
implemented at each phase.
The implementation of these
technologies provides a structured
channel of communication between
ports in locally, nationally and
internationally level to manage ship
traffic and all other port elements
electronically according to EU
recommendations. These platforms
dialogue with existing information
systems in Albanian ports and
remain open to connect with the
most advanced platforms. Also these
platforms will provide Albanian ports
with a high level of flexibility in
managing processes and information
as well as provides communication
and integration between different
information systems according to
European standards.
5. Conclusions
Referring to the current maritime
information systems in Albania we
conclude that they are fragmented
which means that there is no
platform to interconnect
communication between port actors
and stakeholders. This is
accompanied by risks to the
performance of port regions and the
maritime transport and logistics
industry. The lack of an intelligent
platform to manage port traffic
brings: poor traffic management,
reduced port activity in Albania
versus regional ports, reduced
transport and logistics industry
revenues and consequently a
decrease in the national economy.
Referring to current problems in
maritime traffic management at
Albanian ports, we have proposed a
strategic plan to integrate IS of
Albanian ports towards the intelligent
platforms that consists from three
phase:
1. Analysis and stabilization of
information systems that
serve port management
2. Analysis and stabilization of
information systems that
serve stakeholders
During the development of the first
phase, it is recommended to
implement VTS and VTMIS systems.
During the second phase it is
recommended to implement the
“Single Window” platform as the
most suitable for the MIS of Albania.
And during the third phase it is
recommended to implement
technologies such as: Internet of
Things, Blockchain, Data Mining and
Machine Learning applications. These
technologies will provide a structured
channel of communication between
ports locally, nationally and
internationally, to manage ship
traffic and all other port elements
electronically according to EU
recommendations. These
technologies will offer Albanian ports
a high level of flexibility in managing
processes and information as well as
communication between different
information systems. Also, these
technologies will provide a high
reliability, fast response, high
economic benefits, low energy
consumption, sustainability, low
pollution and more scalability and
flexibility for all port actors.