Digitization in maritime logistics—What is there and what is missing?

Abstract

The global seaports are of pivotal importance for the world economy. Since 1990, global container traffic has grown by an average of 10% annually. Equally, the steady growth of ship sizes poses major logistical and technical problems worldwide. Given these facts, shipping and maritime logistics would largely benefit from Big Data as well as the emerging digital technologies. Apart from the many positive effects of digitization in maritime logistics with respect to efficiency, safety and energy saving, there are, however, also risks (e.g. data abuse, cybercrime). Based on a systematic literature review, this article provides an overview of the current state of digitization in maritime logistics, discusses existing problem areas, and shows potential for improvement. The results show that it is essential to capture the development potential in order to be able to benefit from the advantages. However, research is still in its initial stages, and there is a lack of theoretical and empirical work as well as explanatory approaches to appropriate recommendations for action and restructuring.

Keywords

• big data
• digitization
• maritime logistics
• container terminal operations
• port operations