Dr Emmanuel Kofi Mbiah, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Shipping, has urged managers of Ghana’s ports to put in measures to ensure the country’s preparedness for the implementation of the Maritime Single Window.

The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has set January 1, 2024, for the mandatory operation of the Maritime Single Window by ports around the world for the electronic exchange of information required on a ship’s arrival at the port, their stay, and their departure.

Dr Mbiah, who is also a Maritime Law Consultant made the call when presenting a paper at a day’s seminar on “Navigating the Waves of Change: Maritime Trends, Trade Regulations, and the Future of Freight Forwarding,” organised by the Maritime Courier Publications.

He indicated that with the Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS), Ghana already has some platforms in place and therefore must ensure that they follow the guidelines to ensure that all the other elements are captured for an effective implementation of the Maritime Single Window.

He said the Maritime Single Window, which would allow for digital handling of port administrative procedures, would help reduce vessel time at berth and speed up departure, adding that it would also improve the safety of a call as it would provide data certainty and availability.

Another benefit of the Maritime Single Window is the reduction in human ship-to-shore interaction, as well as strengthening the resilience of the supply chain and reducing emissions due to the reduction in the time vessels spend at the anchorage.

Touching on other trends in the maritime sector, he said maritime operators must look into the future and prepare for changes such as Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS), saying that in a few years, work being done by seafarers might not be needed as ships would operate autonomously.

He said the MASS has four degrees, namely, degree one, which are ships with automated process and decision support and have seafarers on board to operate and control shipboard systems and functions, and degree two, which are vessels remotely controlled and operated from another location while having seafarers on board to take control and operate the shipboard systems and functions.

The degree three ships, he said, are vessels controlled remotely without seafarers on board, as they are controlled and operated from another location, while the degree four ships under MASS are fully autonomous, as their operating system could make decisions and determine actions by itself.

Ms. Priscilla Afi Kokoroko, the General Manager of Maritime Courier Publication, said the importance of maritime for international trade cannot be overemphasised, as a chunk of world goods are transported through the maritime sector.

Ms. Kokoroko said due to technological advancement and other global trends, there was a need to bring together maritime stakeholders in Ghana to look at emerging trends in the maritime sector in relation to trade regulations and look at what the future holds for freight forwarding.

Mr. Edward Akrong, the President of the Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders (GIFF), said that as intermediaries for the clearing of goods, freight forwarders must prepare and adapt to the rapid changes in the sector to be able to survive.

Mr. Akrong said the new trends could take away the work of freight forwarding, stating that the supply chain has become complex while there are a lot of ambiguous laws in the maritime sector. Therefore, practitioners must equip themselves with technology and make use of data to be able to function in the sector.