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Seaports are one of the most important parts of the transportation network. They need to be able to support the transportation of people and goods from one place (hinterland) to another (foreland). The maritime transportation system between regions is highly dependent on the condition of the seaports. Developing ports that provide the best service is one of the most important factors to benefit the economy around the port area, as well as the country itself; this is especially important in archipelago countries (Pelindo, 2012).
Based on World Population Review data (2019), Indonesia is the country with the largest archipelago in the world, and requires the use of maritime transportation networks to meet the needs of its people across the country. Based on the data from the Indonesian Ministry of Transportation for 2005–2013, the number of national maritime transport companies increased by about 7.7% per year, and the provision of the national fleet increased by about 10% per year. In 2013, the share of ocean freight cargo by national shipping companies had reached 99.7%. It is clear from these data that the role of the maritime transportation system in Indonesia is of great importance.
However, there are problems with the seaport operation systems of the transportation network in Indonesia. Based on the annual reports of Pelindo (Indonesian Port Authority Company), the problem in Indonesia in 2012 was logistics costs (and port costs), which were some of the highest in the world (24% of total GDP or IDR 1.820 trillion per year, compared with Malaysia (15%), and Japan and the USA (10%)). According to the Pelindo annual report, and our own observations and interviews with representatives of one of the port authorities in Indonesia, the average dwelling time in Indonesian ports is 5–6 days, compared with only one day in Singapore, and that included pre-clearance, custom clearance, and post clearance time. The differences in port operation costs between the regions of Indonesia are also high. By 2023, the logistics market will have become one of the largest industries in the world, but currently ports in Indonesia still have low competitiveness compared with other countries (World Bank, 2018). The reason is that logistics costs are still expensive and dwelling time is still high.
The urgency of providing an efficient national connectivity cost reduction within the national logistics framework has been put on the national agenda. In 2014, the President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, started to develop a maritime highway (in Indonesian called Tol laut) that would be used as the connection backbone and make Indonesia the world’s maritime axis. Its development requires major changes in the pattern of organization for maritime transportation that will take many years to complete. The changes include provision of port infrastructure, network management, and business systems.
The first maritime highway system was introduced by the United States government about eight years ago, based on America’s Marine Highway Report to Congress (2011), submitted by U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration The implementation of a maritime highway system in an archipelago country has not been addressed clearly in previous studies. Protopapas et al. (2013) only addressed the issue of marine highway transportation in relation to toxic inhalation of hazardous materials in the North American region.
Relating to supporting infrastructure especially information technology (IT) systems at seaports, Seetha Raman et al. (2018) in their research results have shown that in logistics management and supply chain communication patterns in particular, Internet of Things (IoT) is one of the important factors affecting the supply chain industry regarding operational value added, cost optimization, customer satisfaction, visibility, and reducing the communication gap between demand management and supply chain management (SCM). Adopting big data technology can create added value and great monetary benefits for the company and will soon become a standard in all industries.