Innovative Cross-Border Risk Management for Hazardous Cargo Transportation: Enhancing Safety and Sustainability in the South Adriatic

The maritime transportation between Albania, Italy, and Montenegro is expanding, bringing economic benefits but also increasing the risk of disasters, particularly concerning the transportation of hazardous cargo. The Interreg IPA CBC Italy-Albania-Montenegro 2014-2020 CRISIS Project N.465 addresses these risks within the South Adriatic region and its ports, introducing an innovative Decision Support System (DSS) aimed at enhancing cross-border management of hazardous materials. This system focuses on preventing fatal accidents and promoting environmental sustainability by minimizing pollutant dispersion. It incorporates several factors, including weather forecasts (wind and wave conditions), port infrastructure, ship design, marine protected areas, and traffic flow to optimize Berth Allocation towards safer solutions. The solution developed within the project prioritizes safety by not only defining advanced algorithms but also ensuring that optimal solutions are applied throughout operations. The experience matured during the project execution led us to the formulation of a novel approach for solving Berth Allocation Problem, starting from evidence found in literature and evolving one of the most popular approaches towards the inclusion of sustainability-related parameters.