KUMPORT Terminal in Istanbul has switched to the CTOS terminal operating system from China Merchants International Technology (CMIT), completing what CMIT calls the first deployment of a Chinese-developed TOS at a major Mediterranean hub port.

The terminal, which handles 1.6m TEU annually plus general cargo, replaced an in-house system that had accumulated ten years of custom development — parts of it built by the Turkish company Solas. CMIT described the legacy platform as having "deeply interwoven modules and complex business logic," where any change risked disrupting multiple processes.

The ownership structure explains the deal. A Chinese joint venture holds 65% of KUMPORT, split between China Merchants Ports (40%), COSCO Shipping Ports (40%) and CIC International (20%). That stake dates from 2015, when KUMPORT was already an established container operator running its own software. CTOS is developed by CMIT, the in-house IT arm of China Merchants Ports, and is widely deployed across Chinese terminals and several CM Ports overseas assets.

For shippers and carriers calling at Ambarli, the immediate significance is operational continuity: KUMPORT CEO Owen Zhao confirmed the switchover held. "Five days after the system went live, I can proudly say that our terminal operating system has been successfully switched to the new digital CTOS and ePort system," Zhao said. "This again proves that KUMPORT has a very professional and responsible team. Thank you to CMIT for developing the system, and thank you to our valued customers for their support during this transition. We will continue to optimise our terminal software and hardware facilities."

Turkish Customs raised the bar

Turkey has long been a difficult market for TOS vendors. Turkish Customs requires ports to track the commodities inside each container and their properties — not just container numbers — a compliance layer most off-the-shelf systems do not natively handle.

To manage it, CMIT sent an on-site implementation team, with six business experts dispatched from the China Merchants Port (South China) Operation Center covering vessel planning, operations control, yard planning and gate supervision. The R&D team broke complex modules into independent units for rapid iteration, allowing what CMIT called "small, continuous deliveries" in response to business requirements.

The migration also forced a structural shift in how the terminal works. CMIT said KUMPORT moved from a "traditional operations-centric model to a planning-and-control-centric model," with multiple rounds of full-role production simulations completed before go-live. After switchover, project staff stayed on-site to resolve issues and maintain continuous operations.

From trial operation to final cutover, the team resolved hundreds of localisation issues spanning Turkey-specific customs supervision rules, special CFS stripping and stuffing, and cross-terminal transfers. CTOS now covers container, CFS, warehousing, container depot, inter-terminal transfer and land transport operations, running in both English and Turkish language environments.

European beachhead

European support came from MARECO SRL, CMIT's Italy-based local partner. MARECO has worked with CMIT since 2022 to build a team and tailor products to European requirements, and previously collaborated on CTOS implementations at two southern Italian terminals: Duferco Terminal Mediterraneo in Sicily and MITO at the Port of Cagliari. MARECO now provides maintenance and support for CMIT's European and Mediterranean terminal clients.

The KUMPORT deployment fits a broader export push. CMIT said it will keep expanding overseas "using CTOS as its core technology base, refining product capabilities, and improving its overseas service system," with CMPort's global terminal network offering further rollout opportunities. The precedent is concrete: in 2025, CMIT's TCP, operator of the Paranaguá Container Terminal in Brazil — 90% acquired by CMPorts in 2018 — replaced the Navis N4 TOS with CTOS.

That trajectory suggests incumbent TOS vendors face growing competition from Chinese operators inside their own international terminal footprints, with Mediterranean and Latin American ports now live reference sites.