Dear Shipping Agents,
We would like to inform you of the following updates:
Reason for ETA/ETD Proposal
From Monday, 20 October, the ‘Planning proposal history ETA/ETD’ submitted by the nautical service providers and/or the Harbour Master will be fed back into the Port Community System (PCS) and displayed in the vessel visit for the respective voyage.
This will provide a general indication of the cause of any delay compared to your originally requested ETA or ETD.
If a service provider’s ETA proposal results in the Harbour Master determining that the proposed time does not fit within the fairway schedule and subsequently issuing a new proposal, the full history will be displayed. The same applies the other way around: if the Harbour Master proposes a time at which, for example, the service providers do not have sufficient capacity available, they may respond with a new proposal.
In both cases, the complete chronological history of all proposals and responses will be clearly shown.
Easier Communication with Principals
This overview allows you to easily inform your principals about the reason(s) for any changes to the vessel’s arrival or departure time.
Example of an inbound voyage:
Change to Phone Notifications from the HCC as of 1 November 2025
This new functionality provides a general insight into the reason for a newly confirmed ETA or ETD. If you require more detailed information, you can, of course, contact the relevant party directly.
At present, agents often still call the Harbour Coordination Centre (HCC), but for instance, when a towage company submits a time proposal, HCC staff are not always aware of the exact details. In such cases, it is faster and more effective to contact the towage company directly.
From 1 November, the HCC will no longer call agents during office hours, unless it concerns a last-minute change — i.e. within one hour before departure from berth or arrival at the Pilot Boarding Place.
The HCC will continue to make calls only during the night hours (18:00–08:00) and at weekends.
We advise all agents to activate the available e-mail and/or SMS notifications in the PCS (via Preferences) to ensure you are promptly informed of any changes to the ETA or ETD.
After six months, this new working method will be evaluated to determine whether it will become the permanent procedure.
Requests via ‘Vessel Notification’ in the PCS
Since 1 July, exemption requests can be submitted directly in the PCS via the ‘Exemptions’ field.
This new functionality makes it much easier to submit requests for permits or exemptions, replacing the old process of filling in blank forms and sending them by e-mail. Requests can no longer be submitted via Word documents.
You will find a complete overview of all request types available in the PCS attached to this message.
The four forms currently in MyPort will remain available there for the time being but will eventually also be moved to the PCS.
Please also note that requests for a ‘Tidal Window for Euro-Maasgeul’ must now be submitted via the PCS. We are still receiving a considerable number of these requests by e-mail.
Attention: Timely Requests for Repairs and Berth Outside the Petroleum Harbour
The Harbour Master urgently calls on all agents to submit repair and berth requests outside the Petroleum Harbour in good time.
We have observed that these notifications and requests are still too often submitted shortly before the planned activity. This can cause unnecessary delays and undesirable situations in the port — both for you and for your principals.
Please also note that inspection capacity at night is limited at the HCC. By submitting requests early, we can avoid the risk that inspections cannot be performed during night hours.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Preview: New Method for Selecting a Berth
As part of the Spotlight project, the Port of Rotterdam Authority has been working to implement the new international standard for berth identification in its systems.
This creates one single source containing all berth data, making it possible for external parties to connect to this “Spot”.
Portbase will be the first external party to connect to the Spot via an API interface. Other organisations, such as the Pilots Organisation, will follow later.
Once Portbase has completed the necessary system and interface updates, agents will no longer need to select a quay front number. Instead, you will select the terminal, followed by the quay or jetty, supplemented with bollard or manifold numbers where applicable.
A conversion table will allow this new setup to be implemented gradually. Once all parties are connected to this single source and berth data changes are automatically synchronised, everyone will be working with the same, up-to-date information.
We will provide more details about this development soon.
Portbase Support Page
More information about how the new functionality works can be found here.
If you have any further questions, please contact the Portbase Service Desk by email.
Telephone: 088 – 625 25 25 (weekdays 08:00–18:00)
06 – 518 844 56 (on-call service for urgent matters)
Kind regards,
also on behalf of Port of Amsterdam and Portbase,
Louis van Waasdijk
Project Manager, Harbour Master Division (Rotterdam)
+31 (0)6 1093 8114