The benefits of cloud computing in the maritime transport

Abstract

Maritime transport is the prominent mode of trade between European Union (EU) and non-EU member countries. As a result, EU ports and government administrations are under constant pressure to increase the efficiency and quality of their services, recognising the critical role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). Cloud computing (CC) as significant advance in ICT development is expected to dominate the maritime transport development landscape in the coming years. The advent of CC where applications are served with data that is stored on the Internet "in the clouds" and can be accessed and shared by the parties involved in the supply chain operation has evoked various degree of interest. It can be explained some of the benefits and challenges of using cloud services in maritime transport which are presented in this paper, particularly the first benefits of some Maritime Transport Single Window implementation initiatives already making use of cloud technology. Also are described the benefits of using CC in maritime transport concerning its technical fleet management operations. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.