Most people in the world do not understand and appreciate their nation's reliance upon the maritime transportation system (MTS) for their very way of life. In the U.S. alone, the MTS makes a $5.4 trillion contribution to the economy, representing about 25% of our country's gross domestic product and adds 30 million jobs. Roughly 80% of global trade and nearly two-thirds of the world's total petroleum and other liquid energy supply is carried by ship. In the U.S., approximately 90% of our imports/exports move by sea, emphasizing the fact that most global supply chains are existentially dependent upon maritime.

The ongoing digital transformation in the MTS sector has the potential to eventually pave the way for autonomous, smart, and sustainable shipping and to further increase the efficiency of MTS. The connection of ships to the Internet via satellite communication, ship-to-shore communication required by fleet operation centers, satellite navigation and radio-based situational awareness systems, shipboard communications, and maritime cloud services are of particular interest of the planned workshop.

However, given the importance of MTS on the one hand, and the growing threat of cyberattacks and malicious electromagnetic activity on the other, protecting our MTS and maritime communication systems must be a top priority not only from an economic view, but also from a social and political perspective. The Ever Given's Suez Canal obstruction in March 2021 has made the world community noticeably aware of how fragile and vulnerable our global supply chains are. In addition to merchant ships and shipping lanes, physical infrastructure that needs to be secured also includes port facilities and cargo terminals, as well as many other infrastructures, such as oil and gas platforms, offshore wind farms, and subsea pipelines and cables. In the context of the Ukraine conflict, the grain embargo, through its global impact, has shown the need for safe, reliable, and unimpeded maritime transport. Moreover, fueled by the current geopolitical situation, increased state-level and military-directed attacks from cyber and electromagnetic space have been observed, raising concerns and forcing responsible authorities to act. Finally, the attacks on gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, which occurred in September 2022, highlight the need for more networked monitoring and surveillance systems, both on the surface and underwater.

In recent years, only a very few works on maritime communication systems and maritime security issues have been published at the LCN, despite being a relevant area of interest for the LCN community and despite urgent social, economic, and political need for up-to-date, reliable, and resilient systems in the maritime domain. The topic of the proposed workshop is a niche, but for which a research community already exists. What (almost) does not exist, however, are internationally established venues for physical meetings and discussions between scientists, researchers, and practitioners that allow for the presentation of new findings, the exchange of experiences, and the exploration of potential collaborations.

The MarCaS international workshop will be a half-day workshop that will help bring together research groups working at the intersection of maritime applications, communications technologies, and protocols, as well as IT and network security to share and discuss ideas, novel solutions, challenges, and recent developments. The workshop solicits high quality and previously unpublished work in the maritime domain and the research field of the LCN to stimulate novel approaches for a safer and more resilient shipping.

Join us for this exciting, timely, and new workshop at the Local Computer Network Conference!!!

• Jan Bauer, Fraunhofer FKIE, Germany
• Ulku Clark, University of North Carolina Wilmington, USA
• Gary C. Kessler, Gary Kessler Associates, USA

You can contact the organizers at marcas@garykessler.net.

• Hosam Alamleh, University of North Carolina Wilmington, USA
• Rui Bian, USA
• Udhaya Kumar Dayalan, Trane Technologies, USA
• Bilge Karabacak, University of North Carolina Wilmington, USA
• Stephen McCombie, NHL Stenden University, The Netherlands
• Cliff Neve, MAD Security, USA
• Aybars Oruc, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Norway
• Jeroen Pijpker, NHL Stenden University, The Netherlands
• Geoff Stoker, University of North Carolina Wilmington, USA
• Kimberly Tam, University of Plymouth, UK
• Ron Vetter, University of North Carolina Wilmington, USA
• Klaus Wehrle, RWTH Aachen University, Germany