Prizewinning app shows available berths in Rotterdam

25 June 2014

Finding a place to berth in the biggest port of Europe, will be a piece of cake for inland shippers with the soon-to-be-launched ‘Berth Available’ app. With this new app shippers will be able to see at a glance which berths are available and which ones are taken. Entrepreneur Léon Gommans came up with the application that combines real-live data on the location of ships from the Automatic Identification System (AIS) with the coordinates of berths in the port of Rotterdam. Gommans recently won the National App Prize with his idea. He expects that the app will be available in the App Store by October.

Vopak Botlek Terminal (Photo Aeroview)

“After co-organizing the World Port Hackaton last year, I started to think of applications that could be of use for the port of Rotterdam," says Gommans. "I heard about AIS and how vessels constantly send updates on their location and their activities. AIS is a great source of open data. I started thinking of simple and efficient ways of how this information could be put to use. The locations of berths in Rotterdam are a constant factor. If you combine the two, you can make an application that provides a real time insight into berth availability. Shippers will no longer have to navigate from one lay-by to another in search of a free spot. They can simply find one on their computer or phone and they can even receive notifications when their preferred berth becomes available.”

For Gommans, the ‘Berth Available?’ app is just a start. “This is an experiment on how available data can be used to develop new services. There are more opportunities for smart use of open data in the Port of Rotterdam.”

The app will be based on data from the project ‘Blauwe golf, Verbindend’, an initiative of the provinces Noord-Holland and Zuid-Holland, Rijkswaterstaat (the Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management), the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment and the Port of Rotterdam Authority, which facilitates information exchange between shippers and waterway managers. As of 1 December 2014 an AIS device is mandatory for all vessels on the Rhine. The data from AIS is available as long as shippers and vessels stay anonymous and can be used for maritime purposes only.

The Port of Rotterdam Authority highly values initiatives from market parties, such as ‘Berth Available?’ Do you have a great idea for an innovative application? Please let us know!

Source: Vopak, May 2015

Port of Rotterdam Authority press release