NEW DELHI: The Chennai Port Authority has launched a digital system ‘Port Setu’ to track export containers on the road between inland warehouses and the port gate. It is the first step towards making gate entry fully paperless.
Port Setu uses automatic number plate recognition, optical character recognition and RFID readers, linked to the customs ICEGATE platform. It records the time each trailer takes to travel from a container freight station (CFS) to the port.
The system, developed by the Chennai chapter of the National Association of Container Freight Stations (NACFS), went live on September 17 and was formally launched on September 30. It forms the first phase of an Intelligent Vehicle Monitoring System (IVMS) being implemented under the central government’s One Nation One Port Process (ONOP) initiative to standardise and digitise procedures across Indian ports.
For the freight stations, the main promise is more efficient use of trucks. Port Setu gives them real-time visibility of trailer arrivals at the port. The authority expects this to cut turnaround times and allow one extra round trip for every six made. The next phase is expected to take the system closer to a paperless port gate. Under Phase 2 of the IVMS, the container terminals will digitise the verification of seal intactness.
