The International Port Community Systems Association (IPCSA) has expanded its membership once again by welcoming the Eastern Ligurian Sea Port Authority as its newest member, according to IPCSA's release.
The Port Authority is responsible for the ports of La Spezia, which handled 13 million tonnes of cargo in 2021, and the neighbouring port of Marina di Carrara, where cargo volumes grew by more than 31% to 3.46 million tonnes last year.
La Spezia recorded a 17.2% increase in container traffic in 2021. This included a 19% increase in “gateway” traffic, with strong growth in volumes moved to and from the port by rail. In total, La Spezia’s container throughput was 1.37 million TEU last year.
The Eastern Ligurian Sea Port Authority developed, implemented and operates the APNet Port Community System (PCS), which is used in the port’s two container terminals. APNet enables data exchange between all operators in the port community, including public authorities and private operators, and provides a common interface with Italy’s national data exchange platforms.
APNet went online in 2015 and has been steadily developed since then, said Federica Montaresi, head of special projects, innovation and institutional relations at the Port Authority.
The platform also incorporates a module for interoperability with the maritime agency and authorities, including PMIS.
La Spezia is also equipped with the CMP (Corridor Management Platform) developed within the European Union project “WiderMoS”. This has made it possible to manage the information flow throughout the supply chain, at national and international level, between the port and inland terminal, including multimodal transport operators and railway companies, involving all operators and interfacing with Customs. The platform is also interoperable with the PIC system, the IT platform of the Italian railways company RFI, for tracking trains along the national network.
APNet is also used by operators at Marina di Carrara; as this is a smaller port, not all the functionalities are involved but the platform is expected to expand here too.