Barbados Port Inc. (BPI) has been announced as the winner of the CIP Maritime Award of the Americas for Digital Transformation.
The award, administered by the Secretariat of the Inter-American Committee on Ports (CIP) of the Organization of American States (OAS), recognised the BPI for its outstanding work to develop and implement a Port Community System (PCS).
Designed in-house by the Digital Innovation and Development team, the PCS has been touted as the most significant digital initiative at the port. It went into operation at the start of 2025 and has been credited for optimising port operations through better data exchange and improved coordination between port stakeholders.
The BPI said it has also improved service quality, serving as a single access point for cargo tracking, vessel tracking, digital processing of manifests and delivery orders, and electronic payments. The national Maritime Single Window component facilitates electronic information exchange between ships and ports, and the Trade Information Portal provides essential trade-related information to improve the ease of doing business and support compliance with national and international trade requirements, all crucial to enhanced port efficiency.
Chief Executive Officer of BPI, David Jean-Marie, commended the team, stating, “We are very proud of the work done to activate this digital platform. The system improves trade facilitation, operational efficiency, and supply chain transparency while enhancing the port’s competitiveness and sustainability within the Caribbean maritime sector.”
Prior to the PCS, approximately 52 paper documents were collectively required by customs, immigration, port health, the port and the vessel agent. Online payments now account for more than 80 per cent of all financial transactions. BPI said it continues to upgrade the PCS and other digital tools to support overall efforts at improving its services.
The CIP Maritime Award of the Americas is open to national port authorities, public and private ports, terminals, port operators, and maritime organisations from 34 OAS-CIP member states. It recognises outstanding contributions in the hemisphere’s port and maritime sectors that exemplify excellence, innovation, leadership, sustainability, and replicability.
For its 12th edition, themed “Recognising Outstanding Port Management”, the jury committee received 30 entries from 11 countries across the Americas.
Following a highly competitive evaluation, the winning entries of the CIP Maritime Award were selected based on strong, verifiable indicators, exceptional performance, and clearly achieved objectives. (PR/BT)
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