POINTE BLANCHE--Port St. Maarten Management, headed by Chief Executive Officer Mark Mingo, met Monday with Portbase Rotterdam and IT Partner representatives to discuss a port community system that involves data-sharing among stakeholders and third parties.
Port management visited Portbase in the Netherlands mid-2016 to gather information about the system, which will be implemented at the port as part of the port’s enhanced security measures in 2019.
The overall objective is to have a complete information technology system in place at the port that allows stakeholders to access real-time information about container movements, as well as contents, thereby improving efficiency. This initiative is also in line with border security, and compliance with international rules and regulations.
Portbase, a Port Community System, where companies can benefit from a multitude of intelligent services for simple and efficient information exchange, both between companies and between the public and private sector. Port St. Maarten’s priority is security first, ensuring safe, secure use of Port Community Systems.
Portbase was created by a merger between Rotterdam’s Port infolink (est. 2002) and Amsterdam’s PortNET (est. 2000). The new organisation was set up in 2009 by the Port of Rotterdam Authority and Port of Amsterdam and enjoys wide support amongst the port business community, including several law enforcement agencies such as Customs.
The Port has been working on a number of initiatives that would further improve the operational integrity, efficiency and effectiveness of port operations. The initiatives include an Enterprise Risk Assessment and Portbase Port Community System.
For a number of years, the Port has been using the Global Logistics Service (GLS) cargo tracking software.
The initiatives are all tied to the strategic approach initiative of the port to ensure long-term sustainability of operations that would lead to further growth in homeporting investments, and expansion to include future preclearance; and growth in cargo shipping and trans-shipment, as well as cruise ship provisioning – currently at 35 per cent.
