eeSea in action: Port of New Orleans uses data to improve operations

Background

While landlord port authorities are often thought of as taking a hands-off approach to operations, leaving optimization to individual operators, the Port of New Orleans is different. They are committed to actively tracking, reporting, analyzing, and understanding their operations to create efficiencies and foster stronger collaboration across their port ecosystem. And eeSea is fortunate to play a small role in supporting this mission.

How eeSea supports operational optimization

• Tracking past performance - Efficient port and terminal operations rely on the predictability of vessel arrivals, but reconciling data from multiple sources is a complex task. eeSea offers an objective and authoritative data solution for tracking vessel movements, with meticulously timestamped arrival and departure events for all vessels, benchmarked against the latest proforma schedules.

• Identifying trends - In our perpetually volatile market, projecting and planning for volume fluctuations is a constant challenge. Terminals often have to rely on carrier communications, that despite best efforts can leave a confusing data trail. eeSea provides historical data on services worldwide, with actual port events dating back to 2020. This data allows the Port of New Orleans to analyze its past accurately - including blank sailings, vessel delays, and schedule changes - and to use these insights for better forecasting.

• Visibility of congestion patterns - The efficiency of port operations often hinges on various external partners. Sometimes vessels steam full speed to reach a port only to encounter congestion, or where port resources - quays, cranes, train, trucks, storage and M&R - operate inefficiently due to delayed vessel arrivals. eeSea provides congestion data, updated every three hours and integrated into vessel forecasts. This allows the Port of New Orleans to identify congestion hotspots and track historical trends, so operations teams can engage earlier and better with carriers and other stakeholders.

The value of eeSea to the Port of New Orleans

• More data efficiency - Less energy is spent on collecting and defending data (that is by definition unbiased and external), allowing more focus on using the data to achieve mutual benefits.

• Time for forward-looking focus - Resources can increasingly be devoted to future planning rather than retrospective analysis, thanks to a significant reduction in hours spent on manual updates and data tracking.

• Improve data visibility and accuracy - The increase in available and reliable data allows for sharper and broader insights, for more informed and timely decision-making.

• Tech-forward - Through their use of all the relevant data, the Port of New Orleans is increasingly recognized as a tech-forward port, setting a higher standard across their stakeholders.

We are truly grateful for the trust the Port of New Orleans has placed in us, and honored to support their continued success:

“eeSea’s operational data has allowed us to transform how we approach our day-to-day activities. With more accurate, continuously updated insights, we can proactively address potential issues, improving our efficiency and collaboration across the port. eeSea is a most valued partner in assisting us in our mission to stay ahead.”

- Janine Moreau Mansour, Director of Trade Development, Port of New Orleans