New Portbase IP addresses require action on your part before 30 June

For businesses that use a firewall with a whitelist:

New Portbase IP addresses require action on your part before 30 June

We are constantly working to improve the Port Community System (PCS). That is why, in order to make our services even more reliable and secure, we will update our firewall as of 30 June 2016. From that date onward, all message traffic between users and the PCS (web and EDI) will be routed through two new IP addresses. This switch will potentially require that participating companies make a simple adjustment to their own firewalls. For which participants this applies will be explained below.

Does your business use a firewall with a whitelist? If so, action is required this month, no later than 30 June! We ask that you add the following two IP numbers to the whitelist for your firewall:

212.159.220.242 and 212.159.220.222.

Be sure to do this in a timely fashion. If you do not add these addresses, you will be unable to contact the PCS as of 30 June 2016. Information on what to do with the old IP addresses will follow at a later date.

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Portbase COO Erik Verhagen will be leaving

ROTTERDAM – Portbase COO Erik Verhagen will be leaving Portbase as of 1 October 2015. After being part of the executive team for over 6 years, Erik Verhagen has announced that he is ready for another challenge and a new step in his career, closer to his home in Haarlem.

Verhagen has been one of the directors of Portbase since its establishment in 2009. The company has grown rapidly in recent years and has substantially broadened its position and services. The importance of Portbase to the port community is increasing fast, and we are nearing the point at which all shipping-related cargo in the Dutch ports is supported by Portbase services. “A good moment to pass on the baton”, says Verhagen.

In recent years, Erik Verhagen has been at the heart of the integration of Port infolink with PortNET to create the current Portbase and has worked extremely hard to position the PCS nationally and to update the organisation and the system. CEO Iwan van der Wolf: “We will miss his hard work, vision and drive. Portbase is now looking for his successor”.

95% of all export documents in port of Rotterdam now digital

The port of Rotterdam is erasing another paper flow. Container terminals can henceforth also release the Customs documents for outgoing transit containers (NCTS) electronically at Customs. The Port Community System from Portbase offers the new service Clearance NCTS Export Containers for this purpose. The move will make the port of Rotterdam even smarter. Taken together with previous developments, 95 percent of Customs documents relating to export containers can now be handled digitally in Rotterdam.

The service Clearance NCTS Export Containers has benefits for other parties too. Road hauliers no longer need to make a stop at the terminal to hand over documents. These papers are similarly no longer needed at the terminal for inland shipping and rail containers. All exporters and forwarders have to do is electronically pre-notify the documents using the Portbase service Notification Export Documentation. When the container arrives at the terminal, the document will then be automatically released. As a result, mismatches become a thing of the past and later problems with Customs are avoided.

Rotterdam World Gateway (RWG) on Maasvlakte 2 is the first container terminal to actually start using the new service.

Public Affairs & Communications Manager Niels Dekker: “For RWG, the service Clearance NCTS Export Containers is an important next step in achieving a Customs-free terminal. In this way, we are also establishing efficient and reliable handling for this flow.”

The service Clearance NCTS Export Containers is part of Portbase’s export service. Container terminals that want to use the service require an Authorised Consignee permit from Customs.

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Cargill wins 5th Port Community Award

Cargill has won the 5th Port Community Award. The Mayor of Rotterdam, Ahmed Aboutaleb, presented the award. According to an expert jury, the agro-industrial group from Amsterdam is absolutely the Golden Link when it comes to data exchange in the Dutch ports.

Cargill also won a Silver Link in the category for shipping companies/shipbrokers/agents during the festive awards ceremony. Other Silver Link winners were Ritra Cargo Holland (category forwarders/exporters/importers), APM Terminals Maasvlakte II and RWG (category terminals/hinterland terminals) and the German company Frankenbach (category hinterland transporters).

The Port Community Award honours the business that most distinguishes itself in the successful exchange of information via the Port Community System of the Dutch ports. The exchange of information is increasingly vital to the port business community and to the ports themselves. It is the ideal way to streamline logistical chains and so gain a lead in the international competition.

The Port Community Award is an initiative of Portbase, the organisation responsible for the Port Community System. Over 3,600 businesses are connected to this system to date, including approximately 1,000 participants from neighbouring countries. Each year, they exchange over 65 million electronic messages with one another and with the (port) authorities.

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Customers rate Portbase a 7.8

Customers rate the services offered by Portbase as a 7.8. This was the result of an extensive survey by Integron into customer satisfaction among businesses concerning their experiences with information exchange via the port-transcending Port Community System. Nearly 1,000 individuals with backgrounds in Dutch and German logistical operations participated in the survey.

Survey participants emphasized their satisfaction, saying: “Absolutely indispensable. It saves us time and therefore money.” And also: “In recent years, Portbase has succeeded in tailoring its reliability and functionality to the needs of the user.”

“Quantifying customer satisfaction is therefore crucial for us. Based on the survey results, we can take the following steps to improve our services to the logistical chain.”

But in addition to their appreciation, businesses also indicated some areas for improvement. Portbase will now be taking concrete action to address these issues. In particular, the communication surrounding maintenance and malfunctions, usability and functionality of certain services, follow-up from the Service Desk and the handling of customer complaints offer opportunities for improvement.

From all stages in the logistical chain
In the customer satisfaction survey, conducted in November of last year, all customer groups from the logistical chain were represented: forwarders, importers and exporters, shipping companies, shipbrokers and agents, hinterland transporters, both sea and inland terminals and empty depot managers. 792 of these businesses are based in the Netherlands and 150 in Germany.

Portbase organises a comparable customer satisfaction survey every two years. In previous editions, the overall rating was a 7.7 (in 2013) and a 7.6 (2011).

Iwan van der Wolf, Managing Director at Portbase: “The exchange of information via the Port Community System can be reckoned a success or a failure according to the satisfaction of the participants. Quantifying customer satisfaction is therefore crucial for us. Based on the survey results, we can take the following steps to improve our services to the logistical chain.”