The Port of Hamburg has Marketplace.Hamburg! Time for the ports in Gdynia, Gdańsk and Szczecin

/in /by

By Marek Grzybowski

At the beginning of November, the Port of Hamburg implemented an integrated system for managing land traffic on roads and rail, as well as ship traffic on the Elbe and port waters. The port surrounded by the city launched a system that will serve commercial customers sending goods to the port from intermodal and inland connections and distributed from the port via land routes, feeders and inland waterways.

The ports of Gdynia, Gdańsk and Szczecin, surrounded by cities, urgently need not only efficient roads and rail connections, but also a comprehensive traffic management system. Infrastructure and a management system resistant to physical destruction and cyberattacks are needed. This is particularly important in the context of the ongoing war in Ukraine on NATO’s eastern flank, the supply of military equipment via Gdańsk and Gdynia, and the defensive function fulfilled by the base in Redzikowo near Słupsk, which was launched this month.

Deliveries to this base must be uninterrupted if it is to reliably fulfil its defensive function in the NATO missile defence system. It should be noted that the missiles from the base near Słupsk will not protect the access infrastructure and seaports in the Gulf of Gdańsk. The system will be commanded by the command center from the United States, because, as Maksymilian Dura emphasizes in Defence24.pl, it is an American system operating in the United States’ anti-missile defense system, while also defending Europe and carrying out “transatlantic defense tasks”. It is equipped with SM-3 missiles, which are used to combat maneuvering missiles, aircraft, helicopters, drones. They are also not intended to combat tactical missiles like the Russian Iskander. The task of the missiles deployed in Redzikowo is to destroy ballistic missiles in space with a range of 1,000 km in the middle and final phase of flight – explains Dura.

Source: Port of Hamburg Magazine, Marketplace.Hamburg!

Port knowledge exchange
Recently, the Port of Gdansk Authority hosted Melanie Leonhard, Minister in the government of the state of Hamburg for Economy and Innovation, Jens Meier, President of the Port of Hamburg Authority and a group of entrepreneurs. The guests were received by Alan Aleksandrowicz, Vice President of the Port of Gdansk Authority S.A. Dominik Landa, Director of the Strategy and Development Division, spoke about the activities of the Port of Gdansk and its plans for the future.

Representatives of the Port of Gdansk and Gdynia Authority met to discuss cooperation. This is about knowledge transfer and exchange of experiences. We reported on this here It is time to use this knowledge effectively today and not only in Gdansk.

On November 11 this year. Hamburg Port Authority (HPA) Anstalt öffentlichen Rechts and DAKOSY, together with partners HHLA Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG, EUROGATE Group and HVCC Hamburg Vessel Coordination Center GmbH, have officially launched Marketplace.Hamburg – a new service platform that simplifies access to essential digital services for companies using port logistics in Hamburg. The Port of Hamburg has received a tool that gives it a clear advantage over its competitors, the ports of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea.

Source: Port of Hamburg Magazine, Marketplace.Hamburg!

In this way, transport companies, customs agents, freight forwarders, operators of sea and river vessels and their customers have access to a single digital platform. Digital port services have been significantly simplified.
Marketplace.Hamburg! is a one-stop shop where port customers can search for and access key digital logistics tools, such as: Online port dues declarations, information on the waiting room for inland vessels, the eDeclaration portal for ship registration, slot booking via Truckgate and other activities.
The IT systems that provide customers with the possibility of contacting the port authority, terminals and institutions operating in the port were developed as part of the SANTANA Project. It was launched less than three years ago.

Source: Port of Hamburg Magazine, Marketplace.Hamburg!

– Its aim was to improve Hamburg’s digital infrastructure, strengthening resilience throughout the supply chain by improving connectivity between logistics service providers – informed Maciej Brzozowski, a representative of Port Hamburg Marketing in Warsaw, over a year ago. The essence of the platform being created was to create a “network of networks” that would seamlessly integrate public and private sector logistics services. Significant public funds were obtained for the project.

Marketplace.Hamburg Center!
The Federal Ministry of Digital Affairs and Transport (BMDV) recognized that the computerization of the port is of strategic importance to the German economy. In January 2022, funds were released that BMDV would finance the construction of a digital test site in the Port of Hamburg. Around EUR 15 million was allocated for the project.
The IT company was given 30 months to develop and launch the Services and Data Network Port of Hamburg project, which was codenamed SANTANA. The project was undertaken by Hamburg Port Authority (HPA) and DAKOSY Datenkommunikationssystem AG. Both companies focused on developing a digital infrastructure, the aim of which was to integrate private logistics operators with public infrastructure and traffic management.

The goal was ambitious. The aim was to create a common “network of networks”. In times of competition for time, the aim was to make IT services more easily accessible via a common platform. This was to be a marketplace for all stakeholders in port and hinterland transport processes. This is how the concept of Marketplace.Hamburg was born!

“I am pleased with the funding for the SANTANA project. This support once again shows the importance of the port for the country. It is essential to use the previously untapped potential in the area of ​​networking multimodal transport and logistics chains, which will bring economic benefits and reduce emissions,” said Michael Westhagemann, Senator for Economics and Innovation of Hamburg after receiving information about the BMDV’s decision.

Source: Port of Hamburg Magazine, Marketplace.Hamburg!

Six platforms
Together with their associate partners HHLA, EUROGATE and the Hamburg Vessel Coordination Center (HVCC), the partners HPA and DAKOSY focused on implementing and integrating six platforms. The aim of the project was to achieve the highest degree of optimisation of traffic flow control on the port’s waterside approaches and on the road and rail connections. The traffic optimisation on the port’s road network was developed using quantum-inspired technology. The system was used for real-time control of the traffic light network.

– By integrating logistics data with the infrastructure sector, we will achieve a quantum leap in digital transparency. This will further accelerate processes in the port and the hinterland – informed Dieter Spark, CEO of DAKOSY before the start of the SANTANA project.
– The open design of the test bed will provide an environment with easy access to future innovations from business and science. SANTANA therefore provides the basis for the development of digital innovations in services and products, for testing under realistic conditions and for integration into port operations, announced Jens Meier, CEO of HPA.

The marketplace was developed by a team from the Port of Hamburg Authority and DAKOSY, a company that has been involved in computerizing logistics processes for years. Operators and ship traffic managers were involved in developing the platforms. The leading role was played by the project partners Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA), EUROGATE Container Terminal Hamburg GmbH and Hamburg Vessel Coordination Centre (HVCC).
The marketplace contains exclusively digital services. This means that data or status reports from logistics, transport and infrastructure can be accessed via an interface, API, EDI, web service, web-based graphical interface, the system operator informs. Digital services can provide information to operators of all modes of transport. The ship’s captain receives information on access to the quay and enables quay reservations. The driver receives information on the possibility of using a parking space. Customers have access to the entire service package available on the website https://www.marketplace.hamburg/en/

Decarbonisation – a pillar of market power
This is not the only activity of the Port of Hamburg Authority, which is carrying out a number of works to decarbonise transport. As part of the World Ports Climate Action Programme (WPCAP), the Port of Hamburg Authority is preparing places for bunkering with alternative fuels. “We also want to quickly reach a point where container ships can bunker with alternative fuels during the loading and unloading process,” says Hastedt.
The HPA shares these experiences with the WPCAP participants. In Hamburg, ships with gas fuel and LNG systems are bunkered. Hamburg has also successfully bunkered methanol. This was carried out on the Greenpeace ship Beluga II at quay CC3 at the Cruise Centre Steinwerder. We reported on this in more detail here 

We have the Hydrogen Valley, and Hamburg is preparing at full speed to become a hydrogen hub. The Blumensand tank complex in the port of Hamburg is already visible today. This function is to be provided by 72 high-pressure tanks. The full capacity of the Oiltanking Deutschland facility will be achieved by 2026 at the latest.

The first German import terminal for green ammonia as an energy carrier for hydrogen transport will be launched in the port. The initiator and active promoter of the project is the mayor of Hamburg, Peter Tschentscher. The aim is to create a “leading hydrogen center in Europe” in Hamburg.

This is the result of the consistently implemented strategy adopted in early March 2022 by the Ministry for Economics and Innovation (BWI). The Ministry of Economics and Innovation called the strategy: “Hamburg as a hydrogen import hub for Germany and Europe”. Currently, together with HPA, the city is developing the import infrastructure at the port. “This should ensure that hydrogen imports will be available in adequate quantities from around 2030,” said BWI spokesman Martin Helfrich.

Knowledge from Hamburg useful for Poland
The ports of Gdańsk and Gdynia became key elements of the logistics networks ensuring Poland’s economic and military security after Russia’s attack on Ukraine. The reduction in oil, gas and coal supplies from Russia had to be compensated for by sea routes. The gas port in Świnoujście played a significant role in ensuring gas supplies. Coal supplies in unprecedented quantities were transhipped in imports through terminals in Gdańsk and Gdynia.
The Northern Port received increasingly larger quantities of oil and fuels. Only now could we see its strategic role. Its strategic importance was brilliantly demonstrated during the gala at the Shakespeare Theatre organised by the Port of Gdańsk Authority. During short films illustrating the development of the Northern Port, the strategic importance of the seaport in ensuring the security of the country was clearly highlighted. We write about it here

The ports in Gdynia, Gdańsk and Szczecin will be able to fulfil their functions related to ensuring the security of the country if they have not only efficient infrastructure leading through the cities, but also a comprehensive traffic management system on land and water. Connections to all the above-mentioned ports are via viapasses and roads, which may lose their capacity. They are already blocked during rush hours. The Port of Gdańsk is connected to the city by a tunnel, which in a critical situation may not fulfil its basic communication function.
A single accident or a heavy truck traffic jam blocks entire access routes to ports or exit roads to main routes. Freight trains are still losing out to passenger trains. And railway lines do not meet the expectations of freight traffic in many parts. Several panelists discussed this at a recent conference on intermodal transport at the International Fair in Gdańsk. A comprehensive IT system managing commercial and military transport traffic is therefore essential today, precisely because of the ease of blocking access and exit roads from ports that run through cities. Also rail ones. Especially in the Tri-City.