By:Ralf Johanning

Laypersons would undoubtedly find Alexander Rugenstein’s workplace completely baffling, at first glance at least. Five screens display dizzying volumes of tabular and graphic information, jam-packed with abbreviations and jargon. It is only when you catch sight of interactive maps showing the Port of Hamburg down to the Strait of Gibraltar that you get some idea of how Rugenstein fills his days. He is part of the 19-strong team at the Hamburg Vessel Coordination Center (HVCC). A unique enterprise in the maritime world, it coordinated around 4,600 terminal calls and stowage plans for feeder and inland waterway vessels at the Port of Hamburg last year alone. Adding to this was pre-sequencing of arrivals and departures for around 2,700 large ships that are subject to encounter restrictions on the Lower Elbe.

It is an intricate task, as the Hanseatic City of Hamburg has a quite remarkable port. From here, the Elbe winds its way over 100 km before reaching the open sea. All vessels, both big and small, need to navigate this route before mooring at one of the many terminals. The Nautical Terminal Coordination (NTC) department at HVCC coordinates the process days in advance to ensure that everything runs smoothly and that all partners are aware in good time of how vessel traffic will be controlled.

Measuring up to 400 metres in length and with a width of over 60 metres, the large bulkers, cruise ships, ConRo and container ships in particular only have certain time slots to reach the Port of Hamburg or to make their departure from there. Aside from the tides, there is a whole series of other provisions that need to be considered in good time. These include, for instance, the widths and positions of vessels encountering each other on the Lower Elbe or the height of a ship passing beneath Köhlbrand Bridge.

“Compounding these issues are the wind conditions and continuous changes in the plans of shipowners and terminals, which need to be monitored constantly and taken into account”, says Rugenstein, emphasising the nautical necessity of the HVCC. “And all these things need to be considered for every vessel that exceeds certain dimensions.”

Early planning

The team at NTK, where Rugenstein works, is tasked with keeping an eye on all ships coming into and out of the port that may encounter each other over the following days. And that’s why they need so many screens. Rough, preliminary plans drafted five days prior to the vessel’s arrival in a specific traffic flow control system become increasingly detailed as the days pass.

And the real art in this business is to find a solution that is viable for everyone involved. The HVCC is quite evidently a team of artists. They draw up passage plans for large container vessels travelling to Hamburg from ports such as Rotterdam or Southampton. “We give the shipowners a recommendation as to when they should set off in the outer harbour and what speed they should maintain so that they enter a pre-planned traffic situation”, explains Managing Director Hirt. When the Elbe control centre is reached, pre-sequencing by HVCC is transferred to the sovereign traffic control system run by the control centre and HPA. “This is another unique form of collaboration worldwide”, emphasises Hirt.

Flexible responses

The plans are not hewn in stone, of course. Changes are necessary on an hourly basis that need to be considered in the planning. These can also be deviations in the outer harbours, for example. Some ports in northern Europe transmit this information automatically to HVCC via IT interfaces, enabling an immediate response.

But all of this is more than just good service from the Port of Hamburg. “We give the terminals, shipping companies and everyone involved the opportunity to exploit their resources more efficiently: meticulously planned arrivals and departures enable optimised utilisation of the terminals, port infrastructure and Lower Elbe, reduce fuel consumption and hence cut emissions thanks to just-intime arrivals”, the Managing Director emphasises, adding: “Ultimately, the environment and the people in the Hamburg metropolitan region benefit from these measures.”

The idea of cross-company collaboration had already been the inspiration in 2004 when HHLA and EUROGATE established the Feeder Logistics Centre (FLZ) project. After all, the feeder ships and barges shuttle not only between the ports of departure and destination, but also between the various Hamburg terminals. The aim of the project was to improve coordination. It was so successful that the former FLZ was soon assigned a wider remit. The first independent limited company was founded in 2009 and the second NTC department established in 2012. It was renamed HVCC in 2015.

Digital date exchange

HVCC has since evolved into a service provider for a large number of companies at the port, including shipping companies and terminals as well as nautical service providers and customers who use HVCC planning data for their scheduling processes, such as shippers and rail companies. Coordination with the Nautical Centre at HPA also works perfectly. Hirt sums up: “Taken together, it means that shipowners can focus on their core business and do not have to deal with the details of port operations – all in all, this is an important contribution to optimised port calls.”

But this success is no reason for the HVCC team to rest on its laurels. HVCC has teamed up with a variety of partners to continue the digitalisation of its processes. “Our overarching goal is to enable the dynamic exchange of data between a large number of process participants in real time. Doing so will continuously improve the planning data, as well as reducing system interruptions and manual data transmissions. This will have a positive effect on overall vessel coordination”, says Hirt to describe his calculation. Viewed overall, it creates greater economic efficiency for many companies operating at the Port of Hamburg and, in the long term, will strengthen predictability and stability in the maritime transport chain.

Even today the HVCC platform has 750 users, and growth is continuing. “We have integrated additional service providers at the port this year, including bunker companies, waste disposal businesses and ship chandlers. In the year ahead, our plan is to enable these companies to access vessel berthing times in the HVCC dashboard and to build innovative functions and dialogues. Coordination will improve significantly if the stakeholders involved know which company will be providing its water-side services to a vessel and at what times”, says Hirt. Creating this capability would be the next step towards end-to-end digital coordination at the Port of Hamburg.