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1
Ship to Shore
Together with service providers and shipping lines, the Port of Rotterdam Authority has started to work on Digitalised Port Clearance. That leads to increased efficiency for all chain parties involved. Last year, there was a Proof of Value around lowering work pressure on board through an improved use of data. ‘If we can globally reduce the administration per transaction by 30 minutes, we could make massive savings. The feedback from agents is that they can work more efficiently when they know how they should deliver information to us. The next step is Digital Vessel Authentication. If you receive data from a captain on board, you need to be sure they are the one who sent it. Security is also important to ensure that only authorised parties can assess certain information. After all, some data can be commercially sensitive. As provider of our Port Community System, Portbase plays a key role in that.’
Trade
At trade level, a shift is also taking place from thinking in documents to thinking in data. In 2024, we collaborated with the Moroccan port Tanger Med on two successful pilots regarding digitalising document flows. It reduces delays for container flows between our ports, and we can avoid food waste.
We have also made good progress with bunkering. ‘In 2024, we were the first European port to test the electronic bunker delivery note (eBDN). This entailed the commodity traderVitol working with an electronic bunker delivery note made by ZeroNorth. We’re pleased to see that it works technically. The initiative is currently being scaled up. That will ultimately lead to shorter bunker times, greater operational efficiency and improved data quality,’
Thijsen concludes: ‘We tackle issues with which we can generate gains relatively quickly and that are close to us: the Port Call, handling vessels and their document flow. Data analysis helps us to work together in a focused way and measure the impact of collaborations.’
Port to Port
Since 2022, there has been a collaboration with the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore on the world’s longest green and digital corridor. Last year, we started by exchanging six time stamps between both our ports. Specifically, actual departure of the vessel in the one port and the vessel’s expected arrival in the other port. The data has started to flow. We are now starting with the exchange with the ports of Tangier Med and Gothenburg. That means that terminals and nautical service providers can optimise their planning quicker and better. The prerequisite for all this is the implementation of global standards.
As Port Authority, we want to know how we can work with other ports to make the greatest impact, on both economic and ecological levels. We see corridors as a means to achieve this objective. That’s also why we are taking a data driven approach to identify potential and impact based on data in 2024. In the future, it will help us to prioritise which corridor and in collaboration with which commodity or port we can really have an impact.’
Global trust
Recent years have shown that mutual trust is a prerequisite to successfully digitalising the global supply network. ‘global trade in its current form is based on the lack of trust and transparency,’ according to Thijsen. ‘Fortunately, it’s becoming increasingly clear that competitiveness isn’t necessarily impeded by sharing data.’ We are working on digitalisation on three levels: Port to Port, Ship to Shore and Trade (the paper flow).
Global datasets and uniform connections
Standards are a prerequisite for sharing data within international networks. The Port of Rotterdam Authority is collaborating on establishing and adopting these standards via IMO and the International Taskforce Port Call Optimization (ITPCO), among others. ‘It starts with data points: are we talking about the same thing or how can we translate that? And which minimal data set is the same for all ports in the world? Every port has its own local data points for local legislation, processes and information requirements, but the minimum global dataset–like arrival and departure times–is the foundation for Connected Ports and, ultimately, a global network.’
To share global datasets uniformly with parties entitled to have them, we need standardised, interoperable technology. Thijsen: ‘It’s no good making local connections and then asking clients to adapt to that. They would need a different connection for each port, while it concerns the same data. If all ports were to do this in their own way, it would drive cargo owners and other chain partners to distraction. After all, each port is only one link in their global network.’
‘We approach the digitalisation of our port from a global perspective,’ Thijsen says. ‘There’s no point in only sharing data about vessels and cargo in Rotterdam; that’s not how global trade works. Freight transport always begins and ends somewhere in the world and not only in Rotterdam. We can only make supply chains more efficient and sustainable by sharing data at international level.’ Certainly, within Europe, where seaports are close together, mutual data exchange enhances competitiveness. According to Thijsen, this is happening more and more due to the harmonisation of legislation.
Much like in the physical world, ports are also centre points in the digital world, but then for data concerning vessels, modalities and handling cargo. To fulfil that role well, we are positioning the port of Rotterdam as a hub in the digital network of international trade routes. Martijn Thijsen, Head of Global Connect at Port of Rotterdam Authority, explains how we do this and the steps we will be taking in 2025.
Case study 5
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The port of Rotterdam is increasingly becoming a digital hub
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2
Trade
At trade level, a shift is also taking place from thinking in documents to thinking in data. In 2024, we collaborated with the Moroccan port Tanger Med on two successful pilots regarding digitalising document flows. It reduces delays for container flows between our ports, and we can avoid food waste.
We have also made good progress with bunkering. ‘In 2024, we were the first European port to test the electronic bunker delivery note (eBDN). This entailed the commodity traderVitol working with an electronic bunker delivery note made by ZeroNorth. We’re pleased to see that it works technically. The initiative is currently being scaled up. That will ultimately lead to shorter bunker times, greater operational efficiency and improved data quality,’
Thijsen concludes: ‘We tackle issues with which we can generate gains relatively quickly and that are close to us: the Port Call, handling vessels and their document flow. Data analysis helps us to work together in a focused way and measure the impact of collaborations.’
Port to Port
1
Since 2022, there has been a collaboration with the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore on the world’s longest green and digital corridor. Last year, we started by exchanging six time stamps between both our ports. Specifically, actual departure of the vessel in the one port and the vessel’s expected arrival in the other port. The data has started to flow. We are now starting with the exchange with the ports of Tangier Med and Gothenburg. That means that terminals and nautical service providers can optimise their planning quicker and better. The prerequisite for all this is the implementation of global standards.
As Port Authority, we want to know how we can work with other ports to make the greatest impact, on both economic and ecological levels. We see corridors as a means to achieve this objective. That’s also why we are taking a data driven approach to identify potential and impact based on data in 2024. In the future, it will help us to prioritise which corridor and in collaboration with which commodity or port we can really have an impact.’
Ship to Shore
Together with service providers and shipping lines, the Port of Rotterdam Authority has started to work on Digitalised Port Clearance. That leads to increased efficiency for all chain parties involved. Last year, there was a Proof of Value around lowering work pressure on board through an improved use of data. ‘If we can globally reduce the administration per transaction by 30 minutes, we could make massive savings. The feedback from agents is that they can work more efficiently when they know how they should deliver information to us. The next step is Digital Vessel Authentication. If you receive data from a captain on board, you need to be sure they are the one who sent it. Security is also important to ensure that only authorised parties can assess certain information. After all, some data can be commercially sensitive. As provider of our Port Community System, Portbase plays a key role in that.’
Global trust
Global datasets and uniform connections
Recent years have shown that mutual trust is a prerequisite to successfully digitalising the global supply network. ‘global trade in its current form is based on the lack of trust and transparency,’ according to Thijsen. ‘Fortunately, it’s becoming increasingly clear that competitiveness isn’t necessarily impeded by sharing data.’ We are working on digitalisation on three levels: Port to Port, Ship to Shore and Trade (the paper flow).To share global datasets uniformly with parties entitled to have them, we need standardised, interoperable technology. Thijsen: ‘It’s no good making local connections and then asking clients to adapt to that. They would need a different connection for each port, while it concerns the same data. If all ports were to do this in their own way, it would drive cargo owners and other chain partners to distraction. After all, each port is only one link in their global network.’
Standards are a prerequisite for sharing data within international networks. The Port of Rotterdam Authority is collaborating on establishing and adopting these standards via IMO and the International Taskforce Port Call Optimization (ITPCO), among others. ‘It starts with data points: are we talking about the same thing or how can we translate that? And which minimal data set is the same for all ports in the world? Every port has its own local data points for local legislation, processes and information requirements, but the minimum global dataset–like arrival and departure times–is the foundation for Connected Ports and, ultimately, a global network.’
To share global datasets uniformly with parties entitled to have them, we need standardised, interoperable technology. Thijsen: ‘It’s no good making local connections and then asking clients to adapt to that. They would need a different connection for each port, while it concerns the same data. If all ports were to do this in their own way, it would drive cargo owners and other chain partners to distraction. After all, each port is only one link in their global network.’
‘We approach the digitalisation of our port from a global perspective,’ Thijsen says. ‘There’s no point in only sharing data about vessels and cargo in Rotterdam; that’s not how global trade works. Freight transport always begins and ends somewhere in the world and not only in Rotterdam. We can only make supply chains more efficient and sustainable by sharing data at international level.’ Certainly, within Europe, where seaports are close together, mutual data exchange enhances competitiveness. According to Thijsen, this is happening more and more due to the harmonisation of legislation.
Case study 5
The port of Rotterdam is increasingly becoming a digital hub
Much like in the physical world, ports are also centre points in the digital world, but then for data concerning vessels, modalities and handling cargo. To fulfil that role well, we are positioning the port of Rotterdam as a hub in the digital network of international trade routes. Martijn Thijsen, Head of Global Connect at Port of Rotterdam Authority, explains how we do this and the steps we will be taking in 2025.