X-Press Feeders Plugs Into the Berth Planning Network

Feeder operator X-Press Feeders is implementing Portchain Connect, joining a platform that already links more than 200 container terminals and six container carriers globally — and the interesting question is not what the software does but what happens to the value of a network as the sixth carrier joins it. What it does: the system enables real-time data exchange between the carrier and container terminals, sharing vessel schedules and terminal information. It provides live vessel tracking, berth availability monitoring, and coordinated berthing window planning. The stated benefits are improved just-in-time arrival coordination, reduced vessel waiting times, enhanced schedule reliability, and lower fuel consumption and emissions. Capt Vijayachelvan Silva Raju, X-Press Feeders' Head of Global Operations, described it as strengthening berth planning across the network to reduce unnecessary waiting time and improve schedule reliability, with the resulting efficiencies supporting lower fuel consumption and emissions as part of the company's decarbonisation work. Why the feeder segment is the right place to watch this. Just-in-time arrival has been discussed in shipping for well over a decade and has failed repeatedly for a reason that is commercial rather than technical: the ship has no incentive to slow down if the berth information is unreliable, and the terminal has no incentive to commit to a window it may not keep. The only thing that fixes it is a shared data layer that both sides trust — which is a network problem, not a software problem. Feeder operators make many short port calls with tight turnarounds, so the waiting-time penalty is proportionally severe and the data feedback loop is fast. If JIT works anywhere first, it works here. Why this matters for ship managers: every fuel saving your voyage optimisation system calculates is erased by hours spent at anchor waiting for a berth. Optimising the passage while ignoring the arrival is the most common way maritime efficiency projects produce a good report and no result. What to do now: before buying anything, pull twelve months of port stay data and calculate how many hours your vessels spent waiting for a berth against how many hours they spent on passage. If waiting time is material, berth coordination is a cheaper and more certain saving than route optimisation, and you should sequence it first. The honest caveat: no fleet size, vessel count, implementation timeline, cost or expected saving has been published, and X-Press Feeders' announcement is an intention to implement rather than a result. The 200 terminals and six carriers figures are platform-reported. Most importantly, this is data exchange and coordination software — useful, arguably essential, and not artificial intelligence, whatever it is eventually priced as. [Smart Maritime Network]

This story is part of the Maritime AI Digest of 23 August 2026.

More on: Emissions and CII · Port calls and just-in-time arrival · Ship performance monitoring