Port of Rotterdam extends Secure Chain network

Port of Rotterdam announced that the Secure Chain has now been extended to include the Far East and Oceania. As a result, deepsea shipping lines and their agents will no longer issue PIN codes—prone to fraud risks—for containers arriving in Rotterdam from these regions.

Instead, all intercontinental container cargo at the Dutch port will be processed exclusively through the Secure Chain, ensuring a secure and efficient collection process. Containers can now only be retrieved from deepsea terminals via this controlled system. To date, more than 1.1 million containers have been successfully released through the Secure Chain.

Within this system, relevant parties digitally transfer the right to securely collect a container at the port. This process moves from the shipping line to its customer—either a shipper or forwarder—through an operational forwarder if needed, and ultimately to the inland operator. By doing so, the Secure Chain creates a closed logistics network made up solely of authorized and known entities.

The previously widespread use of PIN codes via email is now obsolete, as only hauliers, barge operators, or rail operators authorized through the Secure Chain can collect containers at the terminal.

The integration of the Far East and Oceania follows previous Secure Chain implementations for containers from Latin America (31 March 2024), North America (1 July 2024), and Africa, the Middle East, India, and Pakistan (1 October 2024). The final phase will soon begin, focusing on the remaining container cargo still released directly by deepsea shipping lines and ship agents.

Additionally, the Secure Chain rollout for Hapag-Lloyd customers is set to begin. Hapag-Lloyd, which ceased issuing PIN codes in 2022, has been using Secure Container Release and will now integrate this platform into the Secure Chain to establish a standardized and secure process for import container releases in Rotterdam.

All major deepsea shipping lines are now participating in the Secure Chain, including CMA CGM, COSCO Shipping, Evergreen, Hapag-Lloyd (via Secure Container Release), HMM, Maersk, Marfret, MSC, ONE, OOCL, Yang Ming, and ZIM.

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