Smart Ports, New Exposures

Key takeaways

• IoT is turning traditional ports into smart ports, where vessels, terminals, cargo and shore exchange data continuously.
• Maritime cyber incidents jumped 103% in 2025; attacks on maritime operational technology rose 150%, 87% driven by ransomware.
• Maritime risk is moving from physical to hybrid physical and digital exposure.
• Insurers should assess operational, cyber-physical, cargo, port accumulation, and training and governance risk.
• Ports are dense, connected nodes: one failure can hit many insureds, shipments and operations at once.

The maritime and port sector is one of the busiest engines of global trade. Ports sit at the center of the supply chain, the place where physical goods, information, and paperwork all meet and move on toward the end customer.

That world is changing fast. Industry 4.0 technology, and the Internet of Things in particular, is turning traditional ports into smart ports and connected shipping systems. More sensors, more automation, more data moving between vessels, terminals, and shore. The upside is real. So is a new kind of risk.