From 1 January 2024, Member States of the International Maritime organisation must use Maritime Single Window systems for the electronic exchange of information in ports, the IMO has confirmed.
The requirement was introduced through amendments to the Annex of the IMO Convention on Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic and places an onus on public authorities to establish, maintain and use Maritime Single Window systems for data concerning ships' arrival, stay and departure at ports.
What the obligation covers
The amendments oblige competent authorities to ensure Maritime Single Windows are available for the exchange of information required when a ship arrives, stays or departs a port. The IMO says these systems are intended to permit information to be submitted once and then reused to the maximum extent possible across authorities and services.
Current practice and industry awareness
An industry survey carried out by the IMO found that 40 percent of respondents were unaware of the global Maritime Single Window requirement and that many reported a continued mixture of paper and digital submissions during port calls. The same survey recorded that respondents spent an average of 191 minutes preparing and submitting documentation for each reported port call, a figure the IMO supplied alongside its findings.
To support the technical and data aspects of the change, the IMO points to its Compendium on Facilitation and Electronic Business, which provides data sets and a reference model intended to aid interoperability between Maritime Single Windows and existing port-community systems. The compendium is presented as a tool to harmonise data structures so that systems can exchange and reuse information more readily.
The new obligations apply to Member States rather than individual shipping companies, but the measures are aimed at streamlining interactions between ships and public authorities by reducing duplicate submissions and encouraging reuse of verified data. The IMO frames the Single Window concept as a means of simplifying administrative processes for ships calling at ports by centralising and standardising required information flows.
The survey findings underline practical obstacles to immediate adoption. With a sizeable share of industry respondents unaware of the requirement and a continuing reliance on paper in many reported port calls, the transition to fully functioning Maritime Single Windows may require concerted engagement between authorities, ports and industry to align processes and system interoperability. The IMO's compendium and reference model are intended to assist in that alignment.
Member States are now required to have the systems in place and to use them for the exchanges specified in the amended Annex. The IMO material supplied alongside the announcement focuses on the technical reference material and on the survey results, which together sketch both the regulatory change and the operational challenges the sector faces in implementing it.