Digitalization of Sea Transports – Enabling Sustainable Multi-Modal Transports

In todays industries requirements are put upon that the different actors integrate their performance for the purpose of the transportation system as a whole. Door-to-door processes, seamless integration, and multi-modal integration are expressions for such movement where the requirements of the beneficiaries are put at the core. Digitalization could enable such movement. For mid- and long-range transports, sea transports has proven to be a sustainable mean of transport, but it needs to be integrated in a larger transport chain to reach its full effects. In this paper the concept of Sea Traffic Management is introduced as a way to enable integration by an increased degree of digitalization in the shipping industry and further on to the transportation system as a whole. By looking upon sea transports from a multi-organizational point of view and episodic coupling, information sharing processes in which actors’ intentions and performances (states) are shared, has been identified