South Carolina Ports, a top 10 US container port known for its efficiently run terminals and customer-focused operations, and Portchain, a provider of Artificial Intelligence solutions to optimize quayside operations for container terminals and carriers, announce a strategic collaboration to digitize berth planning and collaboration.

South Carolina Ports will deploy Portchain first at the newly opened, state-of-the-art Hugh K. Leatherman Terminal (HLT). Later in the year, Portchain will be rolled out to South Carolina Ports’ Wando Welch Terminal (WWT) and North Charleston Terminal (NCT). These three terminals mark Portchain’s first entry into the US market after its earlier success in Europa and Asia.

South Carolina Ports will replace its existing in-house planning solution with Portchain to fully digitize its berth planning.  Port calls will be automatically imported into Portchain’s powerful Berth Optimization Engine (BOE) application. The digital planning process will enable more accurate and reliable berth scheduling and allow planners to quickly evaluate different scenarios and select the optimal plan, while quickly responding to new customer information.

Stakeholders in the port community and shipping lines will utilize Portchain’s cloud-based platform with real-time access to the latest berth schedule. With Portchain, South Carolina Ports will offer a single view of real-time scheduling information, while creating a distinctive digital collaboration and competitive advantage for SC Ports and its stakeholders.

Joel Britt (Senior Director Operations) notes:

“South Carolina Ports has a mission to deliver cost-effective facilities and operations, while providing enhanced collaboration and service offerings for our customers and stakeholders. With Portchain, we will deploy the latest cloud technology to digitize and improve vessel operation planning, and create a distinctive customer experience by connecting all stakeholders to the multi-terminal berth plan in real-time.”

Thor Thorup, CCO of Portchain, noted:

“We are excited to partner with South Carolina Ports to digitize the berth planning process and enter the US Market. Our application supports data-driven evaluation of different scenarios and will significantly increase planning speed and accuracy. We look forward to working with South Carolina Ports to simplify communication and creating a common platform to share information in real-time with all stakeholders.”