PortConnect links New Zealand port data to CargoWise

PortConnect has integrated its New Zealand port community system with CargoWise, giving CargoWise users direct access to container movement event data from participating ports.

The integration brings PortConnect data into WiseTech Global's logistics software, allowing users to track container events within the port environment alongside vessel information. The connection is intended to provide a more timely, accurate and complete view of container movements at container level.

PortConnect, jointly owned by the Port of Auckland and Tauranga, operates as an online platform for sharing information across New Zealand's shipping container supply chain. It serves as a single access point for shipping lines, transporters, importers, exporters, freight forwarders and regulatory authorities working with participating ports.

Those ports include Northport, Port of Auckland, Port of Tauranga, Lyttelton Port Company, CentrePort Wellington and Timaru Container Terminal, as well as their inland ports.

Container data

According to the companies, carrier data on incoming containers is often available at vessel level, while PortConnect adds more detailed event information on individual containers. The system records 30 types of container event data covering movements and status changes within the port environment.

These include discharge from a vessel, release and availability status, Customs or Ministry for Primary Industries clearance status, truck gate-in and gate-out, and loading onto a departing vessel. PortConnect pushes these updates into CargoWise, where a container's status is refreshed as new information becomes available.

This level of detail is intended to help freight forwarders organise quayside and landside transport more efficiently. It could also help users plan around storage deadlines such as Last Free Day and reduce exposure to demurrage fees caused by delays.

New Zealand's container supply chain involves multiple handovers between shipping lines, terminals, ports, road carriers, rail operators, customs brokers and cargo owners. Systems that consolidate event data have become more common as operators seek to cut delays and improve visibility across those links.

David Knowles, Customer Relationship Manager, PortConnect, said: "PortConnect is designed to support collaboration across the port community for more efficient supply chain interactions through data sharing and connectivity. Integrating our data into CargoWise brings together vessel and container data enabling our customers to more efficiently manage their landside movements, as part of their wider supply chain."

WiseTech said the integration adds port community event data to CargoWise users' existing workflow within the platform. CargoWise is used by freight forwarders and other logistics groups to manage transport execution and supply chain operations.

Port visibility

The companies presented the move as a way to combine vessel schedules with container-level status information in one place. That matters in port operations because quay and landside movements often depend on the timing of discharge, clearance, collection windows and terminal access.

Stuart Hayman, Head of Carrier Integration and Transformation, WiseTech Global, said: "The port environment involves multiple stakeholders in a complex web of container movements - freight forwarders, customs brokers, ports, terminals, shipping lines, importers and exporters plus connections to road and rail transporters. Each movement impacts the downstream supply chain. The PortConnect NZ online port community streamlines the flow of information about those movements. By integrating that event data into CargoWise, container events and vessel schedules are brought together. Freight forwarders using CargoWise now have access to near real time information in the port environment so that they can plan and execute transport moves more efficiently, while reducing costs from delays and demurrage fees."