Globally, organizations are developing strategies to address climate change, with decarbonization and net-zero commitments emerging as essential steps for sustainable development. Achieving a net-zero future relies on increasing research, development, and testing of existing technologies.

Maritime ports play a critical role in logistics networks. Given the complexities of port decarbonization, a combination of measures is necessary, as no single solution fits all scenarios. However, several barriers hinder low-carbon operations, making it challenging for ports to plan and implement decarbonization strategies. Existing studies usually focus on the barriers of specific measures, which is insufficient for port decarbonization. Also, previous research has identified a need to explore further port decarbonization barriers (Fadiga et al., 2024).

This review aims to identify the barriers hindering maritime port decarbonization and provide a systematic categorization of the identified barriers to help researchers and industry stakeholders prioritize interventions and customize strategies. We have selected 33 publications through the Systematic Literature Review (SLR) methodology to investigate the key barriers hindering maritime port decarbonization. By doing so, 25 barriers were identified and categorized, offering detailed definitions for each barrier. Additionally, the study describes mitigation strategies to overcome port decarbonization barriers. These suggestions provide actionable solutions that stakeholders may implement to facilitate the transition to sustainable port operations. They also assist policymakers and port authorities in effectively overcoming these obstacles and advancing decarbonization efforts.

A significant gap was revealed as most articles do not comprehensively categorize the barriers and those that do lack the application of any theoretical lens in their categorization. Regarding the theoretical lenses used, most articles do not specify a theoretical framework, with the Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) model and the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework being the most referenced.

We suggest that future studies employ other theoretical lenses, such as the Sociotechnical Systems (STS), to categorize the identified barriers and provide valuable insights for researchers and practitioners seeking to develop strategies to overcome these barriers and promote sustainable maritime operations. By categorizing these barriers through the STS theoretical lens, it is possible to explore the complex relationships between socio-technical components and various actors in the maritime transportation sector, emphasizing the need for integrated approaches for effective decarbonization strategies.

The study further highlights the barriers' interrelationships, emphasizing the importance of a multifaceted approach to addressing the complexities of port decarbonization. Future research should focus on the interdependence of challenges to decarbonizing maritime ports to ensure sustainable operations in the maritime transport sector.

References

Fadiga, A., Ferreira, L. M. D., & Bigotte, J. F. (2024), “Decarbonising Maritime Ports: A Systematic review of the literature and insights for new research opportunities”, Journal of Cleaner Production, 142209, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.142209

Container Terminals are often subject to high load peaks, which can be caused by fluctuations in truck arrivals, delays in train and ship arrivals during the day. As a result, these peak times lead to longer waiting times for trucks within the terminal. At the same time, this has a negative impact on operational efficiency of the terminal, as it can cause inconsistent utilization of the handling equipment at various times of the day. In order to improve the organization of their processes, most of the seaport container terminals are introducing truck slot booking systems that can clearly define the time slots in which trucking companies can deliver and collect containers. These truck slot booking systems primarily have the effect of smoothing the peak load from the terminal's perspective throughout the day. However, for the trucking companies, they increase the complexity of transport planning and thus shift inefficiencies between the parties involved.

Aim of the FLEXIKING project is to develop a collaborative and flexible truck slot booking system, which continuously recalculates the available time slots at the combined transport terminal, considering the current ETAs of inbound and outbound traffic. At the same time, the system balances the interests and degrees of freedom of the trucking companies and the terminals by enabling a dynamic adjustment in the event of changing framework conditions, achieving consensual rescheduling of time slots.

Within the project, five innovation areas were defined to achieve this goal. Aim of this publication is to predict the waiting time of trucks in each time slot to find the intended truck quota for each of the slots, considering the operational parameters of the terminal. This should help trucking companies plan their routes and terminals to optimize the use of their equipment as well. Therefore, existing queuing models will be adapted for calculating the waiting times within the time slots. As the first step, the processes of a combined transport terminal were mapped at a particular terminal location of a project partner and analysed in detail. Moreover, the length of time slots was determined. In the second step, the queuing model was developed. In addition to arrival rates and waiting time probabilities, the queuing model also considers other parameters such as the share of direct transshipments, predicted rail delays, operational efficiency, or the inventory levels. A transferability check ensures that the assumptions made in the model development are transferable to other terminals.