You have probably experienced the sinking feeling of watching a carefully prepared plan begin to fall apart. When this happens to a digital system, the consequences can spread quickly and become far more difficult to manage.
A recent cyberattack disrupted IT systems across three North Carolina ports. The gates reopened relatively quickly, but parts of the cargo operation had to continue manually while the affected systems were assessed and restored.
The incident is a useful reminder for every connected maritime operation. Digital systems have made vessels, ports and shore organisations faster and more efficient, but they have also created dependencies that often remain invisible until something stops working.
A second server or internet connection is useful, but it does not automatically create resilience. Both connections may still depend on the same router, firewall or power source. A backup may exist, but nobody may know how quickly it can be activated.
The single point of failure may not even be technical. It could be one supplier, one key person or one procedure stored inside the unavailable system. Effective redundancy must therefore cover infrastructure, connectivity, communication and clearly assigned responsibility.
The North Carolina ports were able to continue parts of their operation manually. This demonstrates the value of having clear fallback procedures when normal systems are unavailable.
However, a contingency plan only works if people understand it and know how to use it. Simulating the loss of an important platform or primary connection can quickly reveal whether responsibilities are clear, critical information remains accessible and operations can continue safely.
Resilience starts with clearly defined procedures that explain how critical operations are carried out when normal systems are unavailable. These procedures must be simple enough to follow under pressure and known by the people who are expected to use them.
It also requires removing hidden dependencies that can bring operations to a halt. This means looking beyond obvious technical backups and identifying where single points of failure exist across systems, suppliers, communication channels and decision-making responsibilities.
Finally, resilience must be proven in practice. Regular exercises that simulate degraded or offline conditions help ensure that manual routines are understood, accessible and actually usable when they are needed.
Resilience is not measured by whether systems fail. It is measured by how safely and effectively the organisation continues when they do.
