Kale 1st Indian tech company to join port association

Kale Logistics Solutions (Kale) has become the first IT company in India to join the International Association of Ports & Harbors (IAPH) to accelerate the digital transformation of the maritime industry.

"Kale will add its technology expertise to the voices of 280 ports and port-related businesses counted among the membership of the Tokyo-headquartered trade association, which represents the interests of port authorities and operators at regulatory level," according to a statement from Kale.

High on the agenda for Kale, IAPH members and the global maritime industry is the standardisation and harmonisation of electronic ship-to-shore communication.

In May this year, the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) Facilitation Committee announced amendments to the Facilitation (FAL) Convention that will make the single window for data exchange mandatory in ports around the world from January 2024, marking a significant step in the acceleration of digitalisation in shipping, the statement added.

"As a pioneer in the design and implementation of cargo community systems for both maritime and air cargo, Kale has already developed its maritime single window to meet the new requirements of IMO FAL convention 46." The scalable system enables public authorities to combine and coordinate the electronic transmission of data to ensure that information only has to be inputted once and is reused to the maximum extent possible, the statement said.

"As the first IT solutions provider to join from India, we would like to take this opportunity with IAPH to promote digitisation and technology adoption within the maritime sector," says Vineet Malhotra, Co-Founder & Director, Kale Logistics Solutions. "We aim to bring the industry together through the IAPH platform to drive the enhancement of port efficiency, sustainability, reduction of CO2 emissions, and the building of green corridors. We hope to achieve significant synergies with this partnership to promote trade facilitation and ease of doing business in the global maritime sector."

Kale will soon begin Proof of Concept for its maritime single window solution with ports in APAC and Africa, the statement said.