PortXchange in the press

OVER A CENTURY ago, ships leaving Rotterdam’s harbour were among the earliest to be equipped with wireless telegraphy and submarine signalling. Now, Europe’s busiest port is pioneering the use of artificial intelligence (AI). PortXChange, developed by the port and spun out as an independent entity, uses AI to analyse several dozen factors tracking vessels, port emissions and estimated arrival times. A huge source of wasted fuel is the “hurry up and wait” common among ships rushing to arrive at congested ports. This platform helped Shell, an oil giant, reduce “idle time”, affecting departures of barges and bulk shipments across all ports, by 20%. The tool is now being used by companies and ports around the globe.

“We started with a business-driven approach—helping ships save fuel and allowing ports to handle more traffic without increasing infrastructure investment,” explains de Jager. “But we soon saw that reducing fuel consumption also had a huge sustainability impact, cutting emissions in ways that were both measurable and scalable.”

In an interview with Maritime Fairtrade, Sjoerd De Jager, CEO and co-founder, PortXchange, a Rotterdam-based company offering digital solutions for maritime logistics, said there is an urgency for green progress as the maritime industry is increasingly facing a host of sustainability challenges.

Recognising a hardware or software that helps set new standards in vessel optimisation, maritime decarbonisation and/or sustainability. The winner of the Technology of the Year Award 2024 was PortXchange, with Sjoerd de Jager, Managing Director and Co-founder collecting the award.

PortXchange has announced the launch of its Port Emissions Report tool offering emissions analysis designed specifically for ports, incorporating a variety of transport modes. The system can analyse emissions from vessels, harbour vessels, cargo handling equipment, railways and trucking. The software tracks ship movements, vessel types and associated emissions of pollutants such as CO2, CO, CH4, SO2, NOx, N2O, PM10, and CO2-equivalent greenhouse gases.