June 9 - ARL Shipping has launched a smartphone app for heavy lift/project port agents, cargo owners or vessel operators to log operational time stamps during a project cargo vessel's port operation.
The app provides visibility of ongoing operations to office-based port agents, vessel operators, or technical or chartering departments. The Project Cargo Logger app features a directory of relevant heavy lift cargo milestones, including arrival at anchorage, manoeuvring to the berth, preparing for lifts, readiness of cargo and materials onshore, cargo handling, and departure from the port.
According to ARL, the port agent or vessel operator decides themselves which milestones need to be logged, with all loggings belonging to the agent or operator and are only shared with stakeholders setup by the user.
As the loggings can only be done in real-time when the milestone occurs, the quayside timesheet constitutes a solid base for the statement of facts and any demurrage calculations between cargo owner/charterer and vessel operator, says ARL.
The timesheet loggings also provide a base for analysing the port call events, and possibly reducing the port call duration by addressing unnecessary waiting times.
