The benefits of embracing change – WorldCargo News
Kaleris enabled Seayard terminal in Marseille Fos to optimise berth planning and execution by implementing its advanced Berth Window Management (BWM) software, leading to improved decision-making and reduced inefficiencies.
Seayard Container Terminal at the Port of Fos-sur-Mer at Marseille is a joint venture between Mediterranean Shipping Company/Terminal Investment Limited (50%), APM Terminals (42%), and Cosco Shipping Europe GMBH (8%). The terminal has 860m of quay with six STS cranes and handles up to 900,000 TEU annually.
In early 2023, Seayard embarked on a major software project to change its Terminal Operating System (TOS) to the N4 TOS from Kaleris. After over 18 months of implementation work, Seayard went live with the N4 TOS in late 2024. As part of its IT project, Seayard also planned to implement Kaleris Berth Window Management (BWM), a web application designed to digitalise the berth plan.
Container terminals face a persistent challenge in planning operations around vessel arrivals and departures that rarely align with proforma schedules. BWM addresses this issue by providing marine planners and berth planners with a powerful and easy-to-use tool that leverages a broader and more real-time data set. Its primary focus is to enhance terminal planning capabilities. Its secondary focus enables data to be shared with ocean carriers, supporting better vessel network planning and operational efficiency. With BWM, a terminal can easily plan berths against proforma, as well as compare and manage vessel port stays using actual timestamps. The service allows terminals to share this plan with key customers, partners, and authorities to enable self-service.
Berth planning involves balancing operational and commercial priorities in a way that can be demanding, especially when customers have visibility into the process. For Seayard, the BWM module was delivered with N4, and the two applications are integrated, but BWM was not put into production immediately when the terminal went live with N4 at the end of 2024.
The initial focus at that time was on stabilising N4, and concerns around BWM’s readiness for use at Seayard led them to postpone its rollout. “After working together to resolve some issues and following a product walkthrough by Kaleris experts in May 2025, Seayard started using BWM in production,” explained Nicolas Morleo, COO – Director of Operations, at Seayard.
Seayard’s main focus in implementing BWM was to improve the complex process of allocating berths and the communication process around those decisions. As Seayard put it, the company wanted to “improve berth planning efficiency, coordination, and visibility across the port community. With BWM, the operations team aimed to better manage berth windows and provide shared access to stakeholders such as shipping lines and the Port Authority.” Furthermore, it was looking to this shared access to engage with customers at a deeper level. “This improved communication and collaboration, while ongoing feedback from users helps continually refine the solution,” Morleo said.
BWM changed the way Seayard staff managed the berth planning process. Previously, the berth planning process was managed manually in Excel using spreadsheets. “The file was often modified and corrupted, which made it unstable to use,” Morleo noted.
Berth planning is now managed in Kaleris BWM. The terminal said this has simplified berth planning workflows, and the application is easy to use. Information sharing is also much simpler. Approved stakeholders can now be given access to information in the BWM application directly. “One key benefit noted by Seayard staff was the ability to grant access to third-party stakeholders, fostering greater engagement and smoother communication with clients (like MSK and MSC) and with the Port Authority,” the terminal said.
To further facilitate data sharing, Kaleris has collaborated with the Digital Container Shipping Association (DCSA) to integrate BWM with its Operational Vessel Schedules standard and the berth alignment timestamps of Just in Time.
New software always requires a change management process to ensure the applications are properly implemented and the terminal maximises the benefit from the application. Seayard’s implementation team took a proactive approach to launching BWM, prioritising thorough testing and training to ensure optimal performance. “While the initial rollout surfaced a few areas for improvement and learning opportunities, close collaboration between Seayard and the Kaleris product team quickly addressed these points. After the bugs were resolved and the product walkthrough took place, the operations team felt confident moving forward and successfully implemented BWM,” Morleo said.
The terminal notes Kaleris’s approach was a key factor in the project’s success, saying the company “mastered the environment, and close, transparent, and continuous communication made it possible to succeed in this implementation.”
Seayard is already seeing the benefits from moving to BWM. The berthing process is more streamlined, and ETA and ETD data is updated more efficiently. Seayard has a much better live view of its berth activities and operations.
The terminal’s customers have also benefited by gaining access to improved information and seeing firsthand how increased data transparency helps make terminal operations more precise and efficient—a goal shared by both Seayard and its shipping line partners.
Seayard is confident there are more improvements to be made by building on the collaboration BWM has made possible. “We believe that our operational processes can still be improved by going further with BWM, notably through the complete integration of ship structures, which will allow us to know more precisely the location of the ship’s superstructure in order to better anticipate the positioning of our gantry cranes. Other ideas are shared with Kaleris with a view to going deeper into the operation optimisation,” Morleo said.
For Kaleris, the implementation is an example of what can be achieved when both the software supplier and the terminal are fully aligned around common goals. “Our collaboration with Seayard truly demonstrates the pivotal role strong partnerships play in driving operational transformation. The successful rollout and adoption of BWM wouldn’t have been possible without Seayard’s open communication, shared expertise, and commitment to working together with the Kaleris team every step of the way. This allowed the solution to be tailored to Seayard’s needs and helped unlock the full value that BWM can deliver,” said Antonio Sanchez, Kaleris Product Lead for Berth Window Management.
“By working together toward a shared vision, we empowered Seayard to modernise their berth operations, elevate stakeholder engagement, and set new benchmarks for efficiency across the port community. This partnership exemplifies our commitment to helping customers unlock their full potential with the right technology and teamwork”, concluded Kirk Knauff, CEO, Kaleris.
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