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。数字孪生作为一项新兴技术，具有显著提升港口多层面、互联互通流程效率的潜力。尽管数字孪生已在众多行业成功应用，但跨领域对数字孪生构成的认知仍显不足。此外，数字孪生在港口等复杂系统中的实现仍处于初期阶段。本文通过开展广泛的跨领域文献综述，探讨数字孪生的构成要素，并评估相关研究成果在港口的适用程度，以期填补这一研究空白。研究发现，港口数字孪生在功能关联性及需求特性方面，与智慧城市和供应链等复杂系统最具可比性。结合港口不同流程与特性进行的文献综述，最终识别出数字港孪生的三大核心需求，并予以详细阐述：态势感知能力、面向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功能。最后，本文提出具体运行场景，阐明港口数字孪生如何通过优化港口资源、设施及运营的利用来实现节能。