Airbus reinforces its maritime capabilities with HAROPA-Port of Le Havre partnership

NEW DELHI: Airbus and HAROPA-Port of Le Havre have signed an industrial and a distribution agreement relating to a joint software solution based on the Airbus VTS (Vessel Traffic Services) product family STYRIS and Port of Le Havre solution S-WiNG (a digital service for port management).

The aim is to offer an advanced and high-performance solution that is capable of ensuring better navigation surveillance and optimised port and stopover operations.

The security and smooth movement of goods are strategic issues for the development of ports. This challenge demands continuous improvements in order to find digital solutions to simplify electronic procedures, facilitate development of international trade and secure applications.

In addition, Airbus, the UNION MARITIME ET PORTUAIRE (UMEP), HAROPA – Port du Havre and SOGET have joined forces in the context of the Smart Port City project* in order to consider and contribute to the development of an industrial cybersecurity strategy and platform.

They will define the technical, legal, administrative and financial framework to offer the services of a Security Operations Center (SOC). These services, made available to citizens, large companies and SMEs of the Le Havre port economic zone, can constitute an operational solution that will allow them to innovate, connect and evolve, while making cybersecurity an asset to their development.

This service platform could form part of a larger-scale strategy aimed at feeding a maritime platform based on a national SOC.

Through the signing of these two agreements, Airbus reinforces its maritime capabilities, co-creates and distributes value added services and extends its maritime portfolio to better address the needs of ports and harbours with digital services. The agreement responds to the new challenges that ports now face.

Baptiste Maurand, Director of Port of Le Havre, said: “These partnerships will make it easier for our existing solutions to integrate key areas of innovation such as blockchain technology. They will also improve confidence in the quality of digital data and the traceability of changes. Our ambition is to consolidate our position as a major, secure, digital port on the Seine corridor and throughout France.”

“Partnering is in our nature and allows us to grow and reinforce Airbus as a key player in the maritime domain. It helps us not only to increase our maritime portofolio and create new services that can be exported and implemented at any other port in the world, but also to contribute to port cybersecurity, to make our oceans safer and, which is more important, to support port authorities in their day-to-day challenges,” said Evert Dudok, Head of Communications, Intelligence and Security at Airbus Defence and Space.

Smart Port City project: The Smart Port City project, led by “Le Havre Seine Métropole”, HAROPA-Port du Havre, the University of Le Havre Normandie, Synerzip LH and their economic and scientific partners, is the winner of the National Future Investment Programme. One of the challenges of the project is to promote the consideration of cybersecurity in the context of digitalization of ports, the increasing use of the Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data and Artificial Intelligence for the benefit of the environment of the Port of Le Havre, while accompanying its hatching in a framework of trust for the citizen as for the actresses of the territory.