VIEWPOINT

MIKE MUNDY

Harness the Benefits of the Maritime Single Window

The day will soon be upon us when a Single Window for data exchange will be mandatory – specifically, 1 January 2024.

The Maritime Single Window is intended to have a positive impact on port operations, increasing port efficiency, reducing vessel time in port, optimising processes, cutting emissions and boosting the overall safety of vessel calls. The fundamental key to this is data transmission, receipt and response via electronic data exchange providing all the information required for the arrival, stay and departure of a vessel and its cargo to a port.

The amendments to the FAL Convention, announced by IMO last year, and setting the mandatory date for the adoption of a Maritime Single Window, can be seen as a positive initiative - one that harnesses the powers of digitalisation with huge potential to achieve major advances in a fundamental area of port operations. It is a step closely aligned with the highly beneficial transformation of trade facilitation by new technology and at the top level one which can be achieved complementing wider trade facilitation efforts. In Singapore, for instance, the Government, in partnership with the IMO, has launched a Single Window for Facilitation of Trade that is aligned with the WTO TFA and the IMO FAL Convention recommendations on the electronic exchange of data.

Not all countries, however, have the level of resource available to Singapore to pursue such a development direction and in general IMO for one acknowledges that there can be significant barriers to overcome in adopting a Maritime Single Window. IMO flags up port feedback that identifies the legal framework in their respective countries that can be a barrier to implementation. Similarly, lack of human resources and of a willingness to collaborate between public and private entities. Technology, as IMO confirms, is not a problem. “The technology is there and ready to go,” a fact readily elaborated by BIMCO, the representative body for shipowners, charterers, shipbrokers and agents.

There is also guidance on how best to harness the relevant technology – as exemplified by the European Maritime Safety Agency which has gone to some lengths to spell out the key specifications associated with a Maritime Single Window.

Experience so far with Maritime Single Window development tells us that there is no one single definitive template – there are strong bespoke elements in the directions pursued to-date. Nevertheless, there is a growing body of experience and know-how that can be tapped into ‘to ease the journey.’ Collaboration is the key – a message that flowed strongly out of the recent Maritime Single Window 2024 – A Window of Opportunities event, organised by IMO with the support of BIMCO, the International Association of Ports & Harbors and the International Port Community Systems Association – see also p28 and p30.

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