Digital shipping vetting platform RightShip has launched a “task force” dedicated to improving safety at ports.
RightPort has been set up with five staff in London and Singapore to complement due diligence intelligence provided to shipowners, managers, charterers and financiers.
It aims to bolster operational standards for environmental, social and governance issues, safety, sustainability and crew welfare.
This will protect the supply chain and the environment, as well as port budgets and reputations.
The company’s ports & terminals manager, Yucel Yildiz, a former vetting inspector with RightShip, took on the port role three months ago.
He is hopeful the team will expand.
“We had the data already in place, working with charterers, ship managers and owners on safety and environmental issues,” he told TradeWinds.
“Recently we realised ports and terminals are facing different types of risks.
“They have been left a bit in the dark on safety issues — the risks involved with vessels. It is like a big question mark when a vessel calls at a port for the first time.”
RightPort can draw on data from about 620 clients, including more than 40 ports and terminals.
Yildiz highlights decarbonisation as an important focus.
He believes port companies are 10 years behind charterers in assessing carbon output.
They have concentrated on their own Scope 1 and 2 emissions, but not much is being done on Scope 3 third-party emissions such as vessel calls, the RightShip executive argued.
He said more solutions are being worked on by the RightShip port team, but it is the terminals themselves that will decide how to use the data; for example, by offering fee discounts for more efficient ships.
Sanctions compliance is also a hot topic that is included in RightShip’s vetting.
“They are really concerned about this — they want the data,” Yildiz told TradeWinds.
“Any little issues that can cause a blockage in that supply chain is a big issue. Ports are now all interconnected and data sharing is important.”
