New Maritime Connectivity Platform Launched

The Maritime Connectivity Platform Consortium has been established and a Platform launched last Friday during the conference e-Navigation Underway 2019.

The Maritime Connectivity Platform (MCP) is an open source technology a digital maritime domain. It brings common internet standards to maritime navigation and transportation systems.

MCP enables infrastructures for efficient, secure, reliable and seamless electronic information exchange among maritime stakeholders using available communication systems. MCP is an open and vendor-neutral technology.

The platform has been evolving for a number of years. Around 2015, development escalated significantly, when three large projects collaborated on the common use and further development of the technology. These were the E.U. projects EfficienSea2, the STM Validation project and the SMART Navigation project funded by the Korean government.

During these projects an MCP test bed was established, which now has been running for several years, and now nearly 100 organizations have signed up to the platform.

The MCP supports actors using use digital services to exchange public as well as private information.

The initial consortium in now established by the following uncommercial organization: OFFIS, Germany, KRISO, Republic of Korea, RISE, Sweden, University of Copenhagen, General Lighthouse Authorities of UK and Ireland. The Danish Maritime Authority (DMA), Swedish Maritime Administration (SMA) and the Ministry of Ocean and Fisheries of the Republic of Korea (MOF) are joining as Governmental Observers.

SMA and MOF said that “The MCP could become an important framework for digitalisation of maritime sectors, for instance, e-navigation, SMART shipping & maritime logistics, Sea Traffic Management (STM) and MASS (Maritime Autonomous Surface Ship)” with one voice.