The FOR-FREIGHT project aims to maximise the utilisation of multimodal freight transport capacity and reduce the average cost of freight transport through the development of novel solutions and their integration with legacy logistics systems. This will enable more effective and sustainable management of goods and freight flows in airports, ports, inland terminals and various logistics nodes, taking into account the requirements of all involved stakeholders, and accounting for economic, environmental and social aspects. Through the FOR-FREIGHT solutions the following functionalities will be delivered: i) real-time door-to-door tracking and status monitoring & control of cargo, ii) Decision Support Systems for the optimization of resource utilization based on Digital Twin concept, iii) Increased resilience against large scale disruptive events and increased security of information based on Blockchain technology, iv) Increased sustainability through the implementation of a carbon footprint assessment framework and use of alternative modes of transportation (subway). To achieve these ambitious goals, the FOR-FREIGHT project engages world-leading T&L stakeholders specializing in different modes of transportation, such as port and airport authorities, terminal operators, airfreights handlers, train operators and major transport/shipping operators and brings them together with leading SW and technology developers, research organizations and innovative SMEs. This collaboration will drive the deployment of three state-of-the-art multimodal trial facilities, to enable real life trials in operational environments covering heterogeneous multimodal scenarios, namely, seaport to logistics hub and last mile delivery, seaport to airport (airfreight) and river-port to rail cargo. A cloud-based experimentation platform will be offered by FOR-FREIGHT, integrating access to the three trial sites, and offering advanced monitoring and experimentation tools.

SEAMLESS aims at developing and adapting missing building blocks and enablers into a fully automated, economically viable, cost-effective, and resilient waterborne freight feeder loop service for Short Sea Shipping (SSS) and/or Inland Waterways Transport (IWT). Autonomous systems will be integrated to ensure safe, resilient, efficient, and environmentally friendly operation to shift road freight movements to hinterland waterways, while enhancing the performance of the TEN-T network. The service will be delivered 24/7 by a fleet of autonomous cargo shuttles, with humans-in-the-loop located in Remote Operation Centres (ROCs), which efficiently cooperate with automated and autonomous shore-side infrastructure and safely interact with conventional systems. The services will rely on a redesigned logistics system enabling seamless freight flows by minimising delays at intermodal nodes. A digital bird’s eye view of the supply chain allows the exploitation of real-time information for planning optimisation and reconfiguration to support resilient logistics, incl. digitalised administrative procedures. The SEAMLESS building blocks will be verified and validated by conducting full-scale demonstrations in selected real-world scenarios. Transferability will be fully demonstrated in selected use cases that cover a wide range of transport applications and geographical regions throughout Europe. Based on a structured methodological framework evaluating sustainability criteria, they will act as guidance for the replication of the project results beyond the project scope and timespan. Novel business models will be thus developed and provide a framework for implementing the SEAMLESS service to minimise investment risk for first movers. Regulatory gaps and challenges related to autonomous vessel operation (e.g. social aspects) will be identified, and recommendations for policy makers to allow the smooth and safe deployment of fully automated services will be provided.

Delays within the maritime supply chain can lead to a “hurry-up-and-wait” syndrome of vessels sailing at a predetermined speed to their destination port to find the terminal or port not ready thus waiting at anchorage in the port area. Updated information about current states are not communicated to all partners in the different port call phases. This makes traffic of vessels waiting, entering, and departing from ports challenging. Communicating terminal or port readiness earlier to vessels allows them to adjust speed and save fuel of up to 23% of the overall voyage including the avoidance of greenhouse gas emissions. The average annual waiting time at anchorage is found to be ca. 9% for wet bulk, ca. 9% for dry bulk, ca. 7% for LPG tankers, ca. 7% for dry breakbulk, ca. 5% for container ships, and ca. 4% for LNG tankers. RoRo-vessels benefit from less traffic-condensed port entries and seaways as well as transparent real-time communication of readiness levels regarding ports and terminals as well as multi-modal hinterland transportation critical for RoRo-port departures. MISSION will develop an interoperable digital real-time-based optimization and decision support tool enabling coordinated port call operations planning and execution in terms of time, fuel consumption, environmental impact, and safety spanning the overall maritime supply chain. Stakeholders benefits from increased transparency and information sharing between shipping companies, terminals, ports, and service providers, enabled to optimize their resource and capacity planning including port’s hinterland modalities in compliance with the Maritime Labor Convention.