Blockchain for Trailer Pick-Up Error in Maritime Ports. Using Hackathon to Prototype Potential Solutions: The Case Study

Maritime ports, especially small-medium size, face a significant challenge of low-level traffic monitoring and poor cross-check of drivers’ arrival to the storage yard and upon exit. It leaves a room for pick-up errors, i.e. when a driver claims to take a certain cargo unit at the gates but takes another one instead. Moreover, port gate cameras fail to recognize taken trailers and check if the match driver/cargo is correct. The purpose of the study is to prototype possible solutions to trailer pick-up errors using blockchain. For that, it was decided to organize a hackathon—a popular way of early-stage software development, prototyping, and testing ideas. Hackathon proved as a widespread tool of piloting and solving well-known practical problems. The goal of the study is to analyse how the hackathon teams, throughout the event, will solve the case of trailer security. The hackathon had four challenges and was split into two days, mixed with workshops, short interview sessions, and status updates from the teams. The number of participants was 137 people, making 32 teams’ total and eight teams per challenge. The results showed competing solutions, all unified by blockchain as a database. Teams demonstrated possible ways to optimize terminal area and trailer pick-up errors through joint work of hardware, RFID chips, QR codes, and self-sovereign identity, promising the prospects of digitalization in ports, which may be of interest for carriers and terminal management.