The overall aim of the OPTIMED project was to improve the development of the maritime logistics and transport sector in the Mediterranean, in order to ensure greater efficiency and sustainability of its trade relations between the northern and south-eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea.
OPTIMED promoted new opportunities, facilities, tools and expertise to bring about improvements to the trade network between the northern coast of the Upper Tyrrhenian basin and the south-eastern coasts of the Mediterranean Sea, improving relations between public and private sector operators from the maritime transport and logistics sectors of Lebanon, Italy, Spain and France.
To achieve the aforementioned aim, a groundbreaking virtual logistics platform was developed to bolster the role of ports as transhipment hubs.
In this specific case, Fundación Valenciaport together with the team from CERTH (Centre for Research and Technology, Hellas) designed and developed a new information platform that makes it possible for businesses to plan and identify the best maritime transport option available to them.
The platform, which was developed in line with international e-accessibility regulations, providing users with all available options with regard to port information, connections, schedules, space availability, frequency of service etc.
The results of the project were as follows:
- Optimization of the maritime trade network between the northern coast of the Upper Tyrrhenian basin and the south-eastern coasts of the Mediterranean Sea, creating new opportunities and trade relations for operators and economic institutions.
- Planning of actions to improve the performance of the port infrastructures of Porto Torres (Italy) and Beirut (Lebanon), as RO-RO hubs within the framework of the freight transport network.
- Creation of a virtual platform for the new maritime trade network to facilitate the process of shifting from present-day modes of transport to other more efficient ones.
- Organization of business meetings between operators from the Euro-Mediterranean to promote short-sea shipping, so that target groups and stakeholders are encouraged to develop new trade relations based on the opportunities of a new optimized maritime trade network.
