Ports are essential for the European economy; 74% of goods exported or imported to the EU are transported via its seaports. At the same time, the challenges they face are only getting greater: Volumes of cargo increase while they also arrive in a shrinking number of vessels: Post-Panamax vessels have a capacity of more than 18k containers. Port operators need to comply with increasingly stricter environmental regulations and societal views for sustainability. A sustainable land-use strategy in and around the port and a strategic transition to new, service-based, management models that improve capacity and efficiency are paramount. They are key enablers for ports that want to keep pace with the ocean carriers needs and establish themselves as trans-shipment hubs with a ‘societal license to operate’; for ports whose land strategy, hinterland accessibility and operations are underpinned by circular economy principles. COREALIS proposes a strategic, innovative framework, supported by disruptive technologies, including IoT, data analytics, next generation traffic management and 5G,for modern ports to handle future capacity, traffic, efficiency and environmental challenges. It respects their limitations regarding the port land, intermodal infrastructure and terminal operation. It proposes beyond state of the art innovations to increase efficiency and optimize land-use, while being financially viable, respecting circular economy and being of service to the city. Through COREALIS, the port will minimize its environmental footprint to the city, it will decrease disturbance to local population through a reduction in the congestion around the port. It will be a pillar of business innovation, promoting local startups in disruptive technologies of mutual interest. COREALIS innovations are key both for the major deep sea European ports in view of the new mega-vessel era, but also relevant for medium sized ports with limited investment funds for infrastructure and automation.

Freight transportation is responsible for large share of total GHG emissions in Europe. So far, majority of companies have concentrated on their primary emissions and those caused by their energy use, while indirect emissions from e.g. logistics services have received limited attention. It is obvious that a systemic socio-technical change is vital. The business models for sustainable sourcing and offering multimodal low-emission transport chains are missing. ADMIRAL project aims to have a systemic socio-technical approach. The vision of ADMIRAL is to change the mindset to take the emission level minimization as the main target by providing tools for companies. The main result is the Admiral marketplace, which manages the whole supply chain infrastructure and related emissions. It also works as a channel for developers to distribute innovative and sustainability-focused solutions in EU. The marketplace will be demonstrated and piloted by ADMIRAL partners in 4 pilots: Portugal-Spain, Slovenia-Croatia, Lithuania and Finland. ADMIRAL is focusing on the following objectives: 1) Evolve seamless operation within supply chains; 2) Enable better utilization of current assets and infrastructure to decrease emissions; 3) Embrace systemic change towards sustainability with sustainable sourcing; 4) Develop and pilot solutions that have altogether energy and emission reduction potential. The marketplace will also work as an innovation platform for new services, as software and solution developers have clear guidelines to include the invented services to be available in the platform. The marketplace will improve the value of the B2B logistic platforms. The B2C platforms are dominated by non-EU companies, e.g. Google, but the dominance for B2B platforms is yet to be determined. ADMIRAL will make contributions to the expected outcomes and impacts of the work programme e.g. by aiming to reduce emissions more than 20% and improving transparency and resilience.