Beatriz Molina Serrano

Background: Sustainable maritime logistics has become a strategic priority for achieving the European Green Deal objectives and accelerating the transition towards low-carbon and resource-efficient transport systems. Nevertheless, existing studies mainly focus on isolated sustainability dimensions, providing limited evidence on the heterogeneous transition patterns followed by European countries. This study proposes an integrated analytical framework to identify and characterise longitudinal transition patterns towards sustainable maritime logistics across Europe. Methods: A harmonised database was developed using Eurostat indicators covering European countries for the period 2015–2023. Following data preprocessing, missing-value treatment and standardisation, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was employed to reduce dimensionality, while cluster analysis was applied to identify groups of countries sharing similar sustainability and logistics transition characteristics. Results: The proposed framework reveals that the transition towards sustainable maritime logistics does not follow a single homogeneous pattern but multiple differentiated pathways. The analysis identifies distinct country profiles associated with energy transition, modal integration, circular economy performance and environmental sustainability, highlighting heterogeneous convergence dynamics throughout the study period. Conclusions: The findings provide a robust and transferable benchmarking framework for monitoring sustainable maritime logistics transition at the European level. By identifying differentiated transition pathways rather than static rankings, the proposed approach offers valuable evidence for supporting strategic planning, policy design and decision-making aimed at accelerating the transformation of maritime logistics systems towards sustainability.

The management of European ports is a strategic driver for international trade and economic development. This study analyzes the determinants of activity in European inland ports through a classification framework based on sustainability and energy indicators. Using Eurostat data for 2018–2024, a decision tree model (Random Forest) identifies the thresholds separating low, medium, and high traffic levels. The findings reveal that energy consumption and international trade are the primary drivers, while renewable energy adoption and protected areas influence lower activity levels. These results provide scientific guidance for regional logistical planning and highlight the role of energy and sustainability in port governance.

Background: Sustainable and smart logistics transition requires tools that connect environmental, energy, social and digital performance with transport structure. This study proposes an exploratory classification framework for European maritime–port logistics systems using Eurostat-based country-year observations. Methods: A composite transition profile was constructed from environmental, energy, social and digital indicators using min–max normalization, equal weighting and tercile classification into low, medium and high profiles. A shallow decision tree classifier was applied to identify transport, modal structure and maritime–port activity variables that discriminate between profiles. Results: Road freight transport intensity was the main discriminator, followed by inland passenger modal structure variables. Maritime–port activity variables were included in the initial predictor set but were not retained by the final tree, indicating that transition profiles are more strongly differentiated by inland logistics and modal configuration at the country-year level. The model showed moderate performance, with a five-fold cross-validated accuracy of 0.561, above the majority-class baseline. Conclusions: The framework provides an interpretable diagnostic tool for identifying logistics-related transition patterns and supporting sustainable logistics planning. Its exploratory scope and data limitations are explicitly acknowledged.

Every day the world is moving forward, thanks to numerous researches, the development of technologies, the emergence of digital platforms and many growth initiatives. Today everything is focused on protecting the environment and the available resources, making an efficient and intelligent use of them so that not only the current society can enjoy it, but also future generations, as the concept of sustainable development dictates. Moved to the ports, spaces destined to the flow of goods, people and information and shelter of the ships, all the activities carried out there have to watch over and protect their commitment to sustainability. For this reason, a detailed analysis of the sustainability of the Spanish port system is proposed here, using a graphic tool that is a pioneer in the field of ports, the Business Observation Tool. This tool is dedicated to initiating and recognizing the minimum elements to be considered when formulating an idea about port sustainability, allowing the reality of the conditions of the port environment to be known and establishing the possible scenarios to evolve beyond the observed reality. Cada día el mundo actual avanza, gracias a las numerosas investigaciones, el desarrollo de tecnologías, la aparición de las plataformas digitales y multitud de iniciativas de crecimiento. Actualmente todo está enfocado a proteger el medio ambiente y los recursos disponibles, haciendo un uso eficiente e inteligente de ellos para que no solo para que la sociedad actual disfrute de ello, sino también las generaciones futuras, tal y como dictamina el concepto de desarrollo sostenible. Trasladado a los puertos, espacios destinados al flujo de mercancías, personas e información y abrigo de las naves, todas las actividades allí efectuadas han de velar y proteger su compromiso con la sostenibilidad. Por lo que se propone aquí un análisis minucioso de la sostenibilidad del sistema portuario español a través de una herramienta gráfica y pionera en el ámbito portuario como es el Business Observation Tool. Herramienta dedicada a dar inicio y reconocer elementos mínimos a considerar al formular una idea sobre la sostenibilidad portuaria, permitiendo conocer la realidad de las condiciones del entorno portuario y establecer los escenarios posibles para evolucionar más allá de la realidad observada.

Los indicadores clave de desempeño de los procesos o KPI (Key Performance Indicator) son herramientas de gestión ampliamente utilizadas por las empresas en todo el mundo para medir y evaluar el desempeño de sus procesos y gestionarlos de la manera más eficaz y eficiente posible. En el ámbito portuario, la tendencia general en el análisis de la explotación de una terminal de contenedores es comparar los ratios y parámetros internacionales que aparecen en la bibliografía internacional sobre explotación y planificación portuaria, criterios con los que se explotan, y así establecer lo que una terminal se aleja o se acerca en su explotación a los valores de estos parámetros internacionales.

The sustainability of the planet is a burning issue that has affected all areas of life. The port sector is also affected by this increasing focus on protecting the environment and making efficient and intelligent use of the available resources. The search for sustainable policies in the Spanish port system is a priority. A detailed analysis of the sustainability of the Spanish port system is presented here, through use of a graphic tool that is a pioneer in the port field: the business observation tool (BOT). The aim of this research study was to identify the minimum elements to be considered when formulating the concept of sustainability linked to Spanish ports, allowing the reality of the conditions of the port environment to be known and establishing possible scenarios to evolve beyond the observed reality, towards harmonious and balanced growth by means of an observation model through the BOT. This pioneering and innovative project in the application of this strategy has required research considered as approximate through analysis of the current condition of the Spanish port system and the study of adjacent ports as examples. The paper concludes with the fundamental idea of the need to promote the implementation of increasing measures towards intelligent ports.

The previous Spanish Port Strategic Framework of 1998 has served as a support for the Spanish port system over the previous twenty years, being one of the main pillars of the development of our ports. Nowadays, its updating due to the great internal and external changes to the system itself is fundamental, being necessary to reformulate the main strategic lines and criteria of action of the sector. The aim of this work, after an analysis of the situation of the Spanish maritime system and global trends, is to put forward a series of proposals that will serve as a framework for the development of the port system, so that companies, port administrations, workers and society as a whole can benefit from the application of policies aimed at the competitive development of ports in the international context. The main conclusion is that Port Authorities must continue to advance in the Landlord model, however, they must change their approach, avoiding becoming only a passive owner of port infrastructures but a facilitator of activities and services by carrying out a more proactive management, encouraging intra-port competition and with a view to achieving the strategic objectives set out. El anterior Marco Estratégico portuario español de 1998 ha servido de sostén para el sistema portuario español en los anteriores veinte años, siendo uno de los principales pilares del desarrollo de nuestros puertos. Hoy en día, su actualización debido a los grandes cambios internos y externos al propio sistema se hace fundamental, siendo necesario reformular las grandes líneas estratégicas y criterios de actuación del sector. Se pretende con este trabajo, tras un análisis de la situación del sistema marítimo español y de las tendencias globales, plantear una serie de propuestas que sirvan de marco para el desarrollo del sistema portuario, de forma que empresas, administraciones portuarias, trabajadores y la sociedad en su conjunto se puedan beneficiar de la aplicación de unas políticas encaminadas al desarrollo competitivo de los puertos en el contexto internacional. Como principal conclusión se destaca que las Autoridades Portuarias han de seguir avanzando en el modelo Landlord, sin embargo, deben de cambiar de enfoque, evitando convertirse únicamente en un propietario pasivo de las infraestructuras portuarias sino en un facilitador de las actividades y servicios realizando una gestión más proactiva, incentivando la competencia intraportuaria y con miras a conseguir los objetivos estratégicos planteados.

The fourth industrial revolution is characterized by a high level of digitalization of systems and processes. This revolution has reached the Spanish ports. They have been investing for years in the implementation of new technologies, aimed at promoting sustainability and environmental quality, as well as seeking a more efficient and orderly logistics. Ports are moving towards their digital transformation, which is materialized in the well-known Ports 4.0. These intelligent ports, or Smart Ports, cover a multitude of aspects and variables. Automation, digitalization, technologies that allow interoperability, transparency, decentralization, and customer experience define the context of the application of the concept 'Ports 4.0' to the Spanish logistics-port sector. How to achieve a satisfactory digitization process that allows progress towards Port 4.0 in the Spanish port system is one of the questions being raised recently. The Spanish port world could be represented by a red ocean, since in a very generalist way it can be said that it is a marked described by a fierce competition lacking in differentiation. Therefore, with this proposal, the aim is to take the Spanish port system to a blue ocean, where a suitable strategy and innovation generate leaps in value that make competitors irrelevant because customers compare different products and services. To be able to respond to this, the Blue Ocean Strategy is planted, leaving aside the competition between ports and generating new demand. From the study carried out, it is concluded that Spanish ports still have a long way to go in terms of sustainability. It also concludes that a new management model would mean the innovation in value that is necessary for the process towards ports 4.0.

In the specific case of maritime transport, one of the most notable examples of digitalization is smart ports. Their positive impact on the supply chain is enabling processes to be optimized through smarter production. In the case of Spain, the Spanish public entity Puertos del Estado (Puertos del Estado is a public business entity dependent on the Spanish Ministry of Transport, Mobility and the Urban Agenda, with overall responsibility for the entire state-owned port system.) has launched Ports 4.0, the largest open innovation fund for the logistics-port ecosystem. It is therefore necessary to know the point of digitalization in which the Spanish ports are and the present scenario in which they develop their activity. For this purpose, a SWOT analysis (Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats analysis) is proposed, which is an ideal tool to make a reliable diagnosis of the port system in relation to a certain project before which we wish to make a strategic decision, in this case digitalization, in order to establish a concrete action plan in this regard. This should be the first step towards developing the Ports 4.0 project. The main conclusion of the analysis is that Spanish ports are currently at a medium high level of digitalization, and that they continue to update and innovate in order to be increasingly competitive in this market, despite the fact that there is still a long way to go in digitalization. The main challenge for Spanish ports is that technology alone is not useful enough to reach Ports 4.0 status; the technology also needs to be used in an integrated, open and joint way by all the agents of the port community, which is one of the main handicaps at present.

Actualmente, nos encontramos inmersos en la cuarta revolución industrial o industria 4.0. Los puertos están viviendo un proceso de digitalización, similar al de otros sectores industriales y económicos. El objetivo es la automatización para hacer más eficiente y predictiva la cadena de suministro, persiguiendo también la intermodalidad y desarrollar una gestión más sostenible para reducir la contaminación y ganar flexibilidad y agilidad. Sin embargo, este proceso no está exento de complejidad y problemas que dificultan su implantación en el caso español. Es por ello que es papel de los expertos es realizar un análisis de la situación actual, reflexionando sobre las posibilidades y los riesgos que presenta en nuestro país la digitalización del sector portuario. Para llevar a cabo dicho análisis se recurrirá a un panel DELPHI cuyo resultado final será la realización de un matriz DAFO. En el artículo se recogen los resultados obtenidos tras el estudio realizado.