Digital Twins in Seaports: Current and Future Applications

Information systems in major seaports have evolved to digital hubs where state-of-the-art technologies are used to gather and analyze (near) real-time data from infrastructure and superstructure. Digital twins are seen as key enabler of Industry 4.0 applications and digital transformation in seaports. This paper presents case studies of digital twins in global seaports and investigates implementation layers and decision support. Based on a literature review and interviews with port stakeholders from different seaports, we identify potentials, challenges and requirements for integrating digital twins in seaports. Moreover, we present results and insights from a major project building a digital twin for the EUROGATE container terminal in Hamburg, Germany. As such, the paper provides an overview on the maturity of digital twin applications in the port sector and discusses important aspects to be considered during implementation.