The Port of Rotterdam has announced that beginning 1 October 2024, container cargo from Africa, the Middle East, India and Pakistan will be collected only via the Secure Chain.
Starting from that date, the major shipping lines will no longer issue PIN codes. Only hauliers, rail operators and barge operators authorised via the Secure Chain will be able to access the terminals.
The introduction for the regions of Africa, the Middle East, India and Pakistan constitutes the third phase in the rollout of the Secure Chain in Rotterdam. The new approach has already been in use for container cargo from Latin America since 1 April. North America will follow on 1 July. Ultimately, the Secure Chain will be used for the release of containers from all regions worldwide.
All the major deepsea shipping lines have adopted the Secure Chain: CMA CGM, COSCO Shipping, Evergreen, Hapag-Lloyd (via Secure Container Release), HMM, Maersk, Marfret, MSC, ONE, OOCL, Yang Ming and ZIM. As a result, the Port of Rotterdam has one uniform operational approach for the secure and reliable release and collection of import containers without a PIN code.
Since its launch, almost 275,000 containers have been handled via the Secure Chain. Approximately 950 shippers/ship agents and 800 inland operators have already adopted the new approach.
To a great degree, the Secure Chain works via the Port Community System of Portbase, the neutral logistics platform for the Dutch ports.
In a closed logistics chain that solely comprises familiar, authorised parties, companies digitally pass on the authorisation to securely collect a container at the terminal to one another. Only an inland operator that has been authorised through the Secure Chain is able to pre-notify its arrival at the terminal and next gain access. The use of PIN codes, which are susceptible to potential abuse, is eliminated.