Wärtsilä, Tanger Med, Hapag-Lloyd and Anglo-Eastern Ship Management have enabled the first real-life digital port call for a Hapag-Lloyd vessel
Kobe Express, a container ship owned by Hapag-Lloyd and managed by Anglo Eastern, docked safely and on time at Tanger Med port in Morocco on 25 June using the Wärtsilä Navi-Port system.
Wärtsilä Voyage’s Navi-Port system is a digital platform that facilitates the exchange of real-time data between ships and their destination ports to allow accurate arrival times. The system exchanges required time of arrival digitally with the onboard navigation system and allows a ship’s speed schedule to be adjusted for a just-in-time (JiT) arrival by the click of a button, saving fuel and costly waiting time at anchor.
Kobe Express, a Bermuda-flagged container ship with a carrying capacity of 4,612 TEU, docked safely at Tanger Med on the Strait of Gibraltar on 25 June having sailed in from Cartagena in Colombia.
“This is a momentous accomplishment. We have moved beyond pilot and testing projects to real-life applications, and we see this as kick-starting a trend that will make both shipping and port operations more efficient and less carbon intensive”, said Wärtsilä Voyage general manager for ship traffic control Dmitry Rostopshin.
Wärtsilä Voyage and Tanger Med Port, the largest Mediterranean and African container port, are jointly developing a port management information system (PMIS) with PortLink and featuring Wärtsilä’s Navi-Port system. A key aim of the PMIS is to facilitate JiT ship arrivals and enhance the port’s ship traffic control protocols.
“Tanger Med is committed to providing high-level services to shipowners and international maritime alliances. This is an important milestone in our joint project with Wärtsilä”, commented Tanger Med harbourmaster Khalid Samir.
“Anglo-Eastern has partnered with Wärtsilä to digitalise the operations of the more than 600 vessels in our managed fleet. We anticipate the Wärtsilä technology will speed the execution and planning of voyages and allow us to better monitor fuel efficiency and engine performance for optimal operations,” said Anglo-Eastern chief executive Bjorn Hojgaard.
