Application of IoT Technologies in Seaport Management

Seaports have a very important role in connecting freight by sea. Goods transported through seaports in the world are increasing day by day to meet human needs. This increases the pressure to apply more technologies for better port management. The world's seaports in the 4th generation, the generation in which seaports enhance connectivity to form a large network, have shown high efficiency when applying technology to port management. This optimizes port operations and connects port information into a network that improves productivity and reduces loading and unloading times. Today, the Internet of Things is the foundation for technologies to manage and optimize operations in various fields. It is considered by scientists to be a highly influential technology in the “4.0” era. The Internet of Things (IoT) technology directly affects the activities and processes of loading and unloading goods at seaports. Modern IoT-based port management technologies such as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) are contributing to the increased speed and safe movement of goods through seaports. The application of IoT in port management has become an inevitable trend and will be presented in this article. In the next generation, seaports tend to develop into smart ports based on rapidly developing technology platforms such as IoT, blockchain, and cloud computing. Smart port development also poses many issues to be resolved, including environmental issues. In this paper, the authors present some solutions to develop smart ports in an environmentally friendly manner.