Ports are striving for innovative technological solutions to cope with the ever-increasing growth of transport, while at the same time improving their environmental footprint. An emerging technology that has the potential to substantially increase the efficiency of the multifaceted and interconnected port processes is the digital twin. Although digital twins have been successfully integrated in many industries, there is still a lack of cross-domain understanding of what constitutes a digital twin. Furthermore, the implementation of the digital twin in complex systems such as the port is still in its infancy. This paper attempts to fill this research gap by conducting an extensive cross-domain literature review of what constitutes a digital twin, keeping in mind the extent to which the respective findings can be applied to the port. It turns out that the digital twin of the port is most comparable to complex systems such as smart cities and supply chains, both in terms of its functional relevance as well as in terms of its requirements and characteristics. The conducted literature review, considering the different port processes and port characteristics, results in the identification of three core requirements of a digital port twin, which are described in detail. These include situational awareness, comprehensive data analytics capabilities for intelligent decision making, and the provision of an interface to promote multi-stakeholder governance and collaboration. Finally, specific operational scenarios are proposed on how the port's digital twin can contribute to energy savings by improving the use of port resources, facilities and operations.

翻译：港口正寻求创新技术解决方案，以应对日益增长的运输需求，同时改善其环境足迹。数字孪生作为一种新兴技术，有望显著提升多层面互联港口流程的效率。尽管数字孪生已在多个行业成功应用，但对于其构成要素的跨领域理解仍显不足。此外，在港口等复杂系统中实施数字孪生仍处于起步阶段。本文通过开展广泛的跨领域文献综述，探究数字孪生的构成要素，并着重分析相关研究成果可应用于港口的程度，以期填补这一研究空白。研究表明，港口数字孪生在功能相关性、需求与特性方面，与智慧城市和供应链等复杂系统最为相似。基于不同港口流程与港口特征的文献综述，本文识别出数字港口孪生的三项核心需求并予以详细阐述：情境感知能力、支持智能决策的综合数据分析能力，以及促进多利益相关方治理与协作的接口提供能力。最后，本文提出具体操作场景，阐明港口数字孪生如何通过优化港口资源、设施及运营的利用效率，助力实现节能目标。