RheinPorts launches RheinPorts Information System (RPIS)

RheinPorts Basel-Mulhouse-Weil today May 6 launched the RheinPorts Information System (RPIS). The first module of RPIS will cover a container barge scheduling and berth booking system. This module is based on Antwerp’s Barge Traffic System (BTS), the Port of Antwerp press release said.

BTS is an Internet application developed several years ago by the port of Antwerp as a unique traffic scheduling and berth booking system for container barges. It offers significant advantages for barge and terminal operators, including more transparency and better traffic control, which in turn yield important time savings whenever a barge has to call at several sites within the port.

RheinPorts has to deal with a similar situation of several calls per barge, and so it began looking for an information platform to permit data transparency. Its system and supplier evaluation procedure resulted in using BTS, the solution offered by the Antwerp Port Community System (APCS), as a foundation for the first RPIS module.

"The existing BTS application already meets most of the requirements of RheinPorts," says APCS manager John Kerkhof. "BTS will help them to make their data transparent, so that barges can request realistic slots and feasible sailing schedules can be drawn up. Here in Antwerp we've been using the system for several years now, to the great satisfaction of users. BTS offers more efficient handling and shorter turnaround times for barges," he explains. Furthermore the system ensures an efficient traffic management and greater safety within the port itself.

The fact that BTS is now also offered outside the Antwerp port area offers many advantages for users. Barges that also call at Antwerp are already familiar with the system that was made compulsory here in 2012, so the first RPIS module should be developed quickly.

With the goal of creating optimal port processes, the Port of Antwerp has initiated various projects, which have been collected under the “Instream” campaign. In addition to the optimisation of nautical coordination, these projects include efficient container handling as well as economic distribution within the port.