HPC Hamburg Port Consulting, the leading logistics consultancy for ports, maritime and inland terminals as well as intermodal rail transport, has been commissioned by the German Directorate-General for Waterways and Shipping (GDWS) to conduct a study on information services for ports and terminals. The analysis is being carried out as part of a European project aimed at developing a digitalisation strategy for freight transport on continental Europe’s inland waterways, according to Hafen Hamburg's release.
As the central federal authority of the Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration, the GDWS is participating in the "Digitalisation of Inland Waterways" (DIWA) project, which is funded by the EU's Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) programme and involves four other national inland waterway authorities: the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Austria. The project aims to develop a common, integrated strategy for the digitalisation of the inland waterways of the TEN-T corridors, making the transport mode more competitive and sustainable in the long term.
As part of the business process developing a framework for the DIWA master plan, HPC has been commissioned to explore the information services for ports and terminals. The focus will be on building an inventory of the data inter-faces between inland navigation operators and European ports, as well as the IT system landscape. The aim is to determine the existing level of digital maturity and future potential with regard to the digitalisation of the processes engaging ports and inland navigation.
HPC has many years of experience in this sector and has advised national and international inland ports on operational issues, analyses and digitalisation projects. For example, HPC supports the Hamburg Vessel Coordination Center HVCC in optimisation and coordination of maneuvering when feeder vessels and larger ships meet in restricted parts of the Elbe or in port.
In addition, HPC has successfully implemented digitalisation and inland navigation projects for operators on the Rhine, in India and the USA.
HPC is an active member of the Inland Vessel Working Group of Hamburg Hafen Marketing. The working group aims to strengthen the role of inland navigation in the Port of Hamburg.