Abstract
Seaports are regarded as the main components of facilitating trade to ensure economic growth across the world. The demand for international trade has tremendously increased and propelled modern ports to venture into technologically advanced infrastructure, which requires multimodal intersections for the transportation of these goods from various ports that encompass integrated transportation networks such as railway, road, air, and sea. South African ports are faced with the challenges of underperformance and the need to improve port efficiency and productivity through the exploration of smart port concepts in order to compete with developed countries. The research is based at the port of Port Elizabeth, which is currently facing high levels of inefficiency due to inadequate infrastructure and poor port productivity.
The main research objective of the study is to assess the impact of exploring smart port concepts to restructure South African ports that are faced with port inefficiencies and unproductivity. The research study followed a qualitative research method with a sample size of 25 port employees as research participants. The study was conducted at the port of Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, South Africa. The research collected data through a survey questionnaire, and the participants were selected using simple random sampling. Thematic research analysis was used in analysing the responses from the employees.
The port of Port Elizabeth is within a developing country that is faced with underperformance. The key element of the research study is that South African ports should explore smart port concepts, transitioning from traditional operations into smart automation ports. The exploration of the smart port concept provides a broader prospect for guiding the development of the port in order to improve port efficiency and productivity while promoting the economic growth of the country.
In conclusion, the port has outlined the prevailing challenges in the port, which encompass congestion and a lack of port equipment that causes inefficiencies and unproductivity. The study has explored the elements that affect the concept of smart port as a determining factor in improving port productivity and efficiency in the port system.