Defense and security company Saab has been awarded a contract by the Maryland Port Administration (MPA) in the US to provide Saab’s KleinPort, including the newly released Common Operating Picture (COP).

The Port of Baltimore was the fourth fastest-growing port in North America in 2016 and was recently recognized as the most efficient container port in the US.

“The Maryland Port Administration selected Saab to take advantage of their new Common Operating Picture functionality, which will significantly improve maritime domain awareness,” said Brian Miller, Director of Operations at the Maryland Port Administration. “In addition, KleinPort will allow us to become a more efficient port and improve our customer service.”

Saab’s KleinPort provides ports around the world with efficient and effective means to manage and control operations. The latest addition, COP, gives all authorized port stakeholders an easily accessible, map-based overview of their port. The information is layered to allow users to select only the data relevant to their area of responsibility. Business staff get a high-level port overview, and operations staff can execute routine tasks directly from the COP user interface. From a security and safety perspective, this data can be viewed in real-time by all parties involved, allowing for response coordination through one common view. The solution will be deployed by the end this year and will go live in the beginning of 2018.

“The Common Operating Picture is a web service that allows authorized users to see the exact status of ships and port facilities,” said Tomas Hjelmberg, head of Saab’s Maritime Traffic Management product area within business area Surveillance. “There is much less of a need to phone or radio for information on what is going on, and it’s a real time saver.”

The Port of Baltimore handles more autos and farm and construction machinery than any other US port. Among all major US ports, the Port of Baltimore ranks ninth for the dollar amount of cargo and 14th for total cargo tonnage.