The international maritime sector plays an important part in contributing to the global sustainable economy and plays a significant role in achieving sustainable development goals. A variety of regulations and standards power the sustainability management of the global maritime sector, including the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and the European Union’s new draft European Sustainability Reporting Standard. Limited research on the potential contribution of maritime policy-making to support sustainable development has led the sector to face multiple challenges. In this study, we analyzed how local policy-making can impact international goals and global sustainable development based on comprehensive datasets of 143 maritime companies. The study recommends the incorporation of sustainability dimensions of the maritime sector into all levels of policy-making and supporting the policy implementation with the local maritime governance structure. A maritime country should have strategic planning objectives that embrace maritime affairs and use the interactions identified between local development and the maritime sector. We propose a framework for maritime policy-making that supports sustainable development. A maturity model for sustainable development in the maritime sector was developed. The results can be used as guidelines for policymakers in planning sustainable development in a maritime country.

In policy-making, the design of a policy is considered to be one of the most significant steps. A well designed policy will be able to solve sectoral problems across stakeholders as well as support the competitive development of the entire economy. Enterprises of the maritime sector have been influenced by environmental, social, and governance (ESG) changes with the push coming from financiers, insurers, regulators, and customers. To meet the ESG challenges and utilize the benefits ahead, they need to be addressed in the new policy design processes. The specificities of a maritime sector as well as science-based policy-making framework are the fundamentals of successful maritime policy development. Estonia is located on the eastern border of the EU, and has always aimed to be a maritime state. National maritime policy has been adopted (2012–2020) and currently, the Estonian Transport and Mobility Master Plan incorporates maritime aspects. Actors of the maritime sector have remained dissatisfied and advocate the reinstatement and redevelopment of Estonian maritime policy. The aim of this study was to present a framework for the design of maritime policy that uses maritime economics, ESG performance goals, and policy design analyses as inputs. As a result, a maritime policy design framework is proposed.

This paper analyzes the exploitability, economic viability, and impact of fleet-based 5G network extensions implemented in maritime environments, focusing on the Baltic Sea and Mediterranean as a case study. Through cost–benefit analysis and business model validation, we demonstrate how multi-hop 5G connectivity can reduce communication costs while improving service quality for maritime operators. Our findings indicate that implementing vessel-based 5G relay stations can achieve 80–90% coverage in key maritime corridors with a break-even period of 2–3 years. The study reveals that combining vessel-to-vessel relaying with strategic floating base stations can reduce connectivity costs by up to 40% compared to traditional satellite solutions, while enabling new revenue streams through premium services. We provide a detailed economic framework for evaluating similar implementations across different maritime routes and suggest policy recommendations for facilitating cross-border 5G maritime networks and introduce key use cases value creation for network extension.