PortXchange, a development of the Port of Rotterdam Authority, enables shipping companies to monitor, analyze and optimize the arrival and departure of their container ships in the seaports. ONE tested the tool for two months in 2019.

''The Port of Rotterdam Authority introduced PortXchange to our office in London,'' says Keith Bamber, Port Operations Manager at ONE in London, where ship planning for Europe takes place. "We were impressed by the broad applicability and the large amount of information this tool offers. For us, this would lead to more transparency than in the past. That's why we decided to test it. The better we can manage our ships in the port of Rotterdam, the more accurately we can plan and the more reliable our schedules will be."

Just in time
The ONE shipping company receives approximately 350 calls per year for Rotterdam. This means that approximately one ONE ship docks in the port of Rotterdam every day. It is therefore important for the shipping company that the ships arrive just-in-time in the port of Rotterdam. It costs a lot of money if a ship wants to dock and the terminal does not yet have space for the ship, for example. Bamber: "It's difficult to manage this efficiently, but thanks to our good contacts with ECT in Rotterdam, this went very smoothly during the week. During the weekend, we often didn't have enough information to be able to respond appropriately to changes in the schedule. Now we are automatically notified of changes via PortXchange. In this way, our operators can also contact the terminal directly on Saturdays and Sundays to check whether the information is correct and to adjust the arrival time. If a ship is already on its way to Rotterdam, we ask the captain to adjust the speed. This saves fuel costs and protects the environment." During the trial, the Port of Rotterdam Authority made several changes to the PortXchange user interface at ONE's request. "We wanted a timeline with the sailing speed in real time, but also information on the required sailing speed for timely mooring at the terminal."

ONE will continue to use PortXchange after the pilot project in the port of Rotterdam and would also like to use the tool in other main European ports, including London Gateway and the southern Spanish port of Algeciras. According to Bamber, this would further increase efficiency. Around twelve people are currently working with the system in the ONE offices in London and Rotterdam. ''A nice, user-friendly solution,'' summarizes Bamber. "What we would still like to see in PortXchange is information about the tides. When loaded, our ships from Asia have a draught of up to 16 meters. Even in very deep ports like Rotterdam, you are still dependent on the water levels. It would be very useful if PortXchange could provide information on this."