The STM EfficientFlow project, partly implemented by Fintraffic's Vessel Traffic Services, has been selected as a finalist for the REGIOSTARS Awards from 228 applicants. The project focused on improving traffic flow, bunker savings and more efficient information exchange between ports, resulting in the development of the Port Activity application, which has taken off in the market.
The Baltic Sea is one of the world’s busiest shipping areas, with more than 2,500 vessels on the move around the clock. Every year, over 950 million tonnes of transport pass through the ports of the Baltic Sea, which accounts for 17 % of the world's maritime transport. Busy maritime traffic puts the spotlight on the importance of reliable information and its efficient sharing. This was also addressed in the STM EfficientFlow project completed in spring 2021.
“At Fintraffic, we want to create products and services that meet the needs of customers, help reduce costs and emissions and improve the daily life of port ecosystem operators. Place in the finals is a sign that our development work has been heading in the right direction. EfficientFlow has been a great step towards safer, more environmentally friendly and smoother maritime traffic,” says Director Jouni Patrakka from Fintraffic's Vessel Traffic Services.
Port Activity application in use in over 25 ports
The EfficientFlow project included two project packages, one of which focused on improving traffic flow in the difficult and narrow archipelago between the Archipelago Sea and Stockholm and on bunker savings. The second package aimed to create a pocket-size office for more efficient information exchange to support efficient and economic port calls.
“This resulted in the creation of the Port Activity application, which is very much in line with user needs, and it started to be rolled out in ports on a needs-driven basis with the pilot. As the project was nearing completion, we considered solutions that would allow the application to be deployed on a permanent basis. We ended up sharing the responsibility: Fintraffic takes care of the background work on the application and offers the basic part of the service as well as open time data for port calls that the ports can use. The ports themselves are responsible for the use of the SaaS-based application and any port-specific further development. Currently, Port Activity is already in use in more than 25 ports,” says Project Manager Olli Soininen from Fintraffic’s Vessel Traffic Services.
REGIOSTARS Awards is a competition organised by the European Commission (DG Regio) to highlight innovative regional development projects in Europe. EfficientFlow is nominated for the A Connected Europe category. EfficientFlow is joined in the finals by 29 other projects, and the selection process has taken into account, for example, economic growth, employment, environmental sustainability, social inclusion and other aspects of regional development.
The public vote on the competition is currently under way and open until 14 November 2023. The project with the highest number of votes will receive the Public Choice Award. The winner of the final will be announced on 16 November 2023 in the REGIOSTARS ceremony in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
You can find more information on the vote at https://regiostarsawards.eu/.
