Durres Port Authority is the main port of Albania. It is a multi-purpose port, it accounts for 90% of Albanian maritime trade and handles all types of goods operating 24 hours a day - 365 days a year. As part of the implementation of security policies in accordance with the ISPS (International Ship and Port Security) regulation, in 2011 security and control systems were installed both at the port entrance and during transit in the passenger boarding areas. These systems provide an integrated and secure solution by providing a protected area, ensuring the detection of license plates, the entry and exit of passengers at the port, the creation of controlled passages and the recording of data related to passengers and vehicles sailing in the port of Durres. The electronic transit system is integrated with the electronic e-Boarding check-in system, through which each passenger and vehicle is provided with the completion card accompanying the passenger/vehicle transit process at all stages (boarding, verification) until boarding at destination. The electronic Check-in system communicates in real time with the systems of the transport agencies operating in the port of Durres. After 12 years of use, it became necessary to update them and improve them with additional features.

In 2022 APD became a partner of LASTING "Lower Adriatic Integrated Mobility System-Passengers (LA-PIMS)” project, where one of the main objectives of this project was to create a strategic plan for the transnational system of passengers for the Transport Authorities of the Lower Adriatic region to act as a collaborative platform between public and private stakeholders, improving multimodal connectivity and improving transit efficiency and user-friendliness.

DPA from LASTING project benefited the improvement of the existing electronic control system for passengers and vehicles at the Ferry Terminal.
More specifically, the improvement consisted of five components:

1. Improvement of the existing permit management system for issuing, activating and renewing permits as well as online reporting to the port of Bari.
2. Integrations with other applications and systems such as:
   1. Passenger/vehicle reservation system,
   2. Fiscalization system,
   3. Reporting system,
   4. Pedestrian management system,
   5. Vehicle management system.
3. Development of functionalities for online application of port access permits.
4. Purchase of identification scanners and handheld devices for port entry control.
5. Training and support

All the foreseen components of the Lasting project were successfully implemented eliminating the main gaps we had with the existing systems by fixing and solving problems with:

• Automatic exchange of information with the port of Bar regarding passenger/vehicle data traveling from the Port of Durres to the Port of Bar.
• Integrating the electronic check-in system with the APD clearance system for granting access to the APD entry gates on cruise visit days.
• Workflow improvements in the short-term and long-term permit granting system in APD.
• Enhanced security checks for permissions issued by enabling portability. Controlling through a mobile application.

The successful implementation of the Action Plan has contributed to the improvement of the quality of service to passengers and increased control and security in the Durres Port Authority.