VIS System for Bintulu and Penang Port This Month

Published by The Star (Maritime)

BINTULU and Penang Port will be equipped with the vessel information system (VIS) provided by Dagang Net Technologies Sdn Bhd by this month. 

The facility allows port users to request for ship call numbers (SCN) and apply for a berth number (BN) from the port operators electronically. 

Tests are currently being carried out and the pilot run for Bintulu is expected to take off this week and next week for Penang. 

Dagang Net said VIS would be implemented in Port Klang once industry players started using the company's web-based applications.  

Dagang Net chief executive officer Saifol Bahri Mohd Shamlan said VIS could aggregate all information required by port operators, port authorities and shipping agents such as vessel estimated time of arrival (ETA), estimated time of departure (ETD), vessel actual time of arrival (ATA), actual time of departure (ATD), place of berth, vessel details and dangerous goods indicator. 

“Information transacted through VIS are routed to Sistem Maklumat Kastam (SMK) for validation and cross-reference purposes against the Customs declaration. 

“VIS also enables us to provide the government with statistics on vessels coming in and out of the country,” he said.  

In August, the VIS component of MyPorts was launched in Kuantan Port.  

The information provided by Dagang Net facilitates users in the preparation of electronic Customs declaration forms.  

Currently, Dagang Net has seven pilot users for MyPorts' VIS. Dagang Net is not tracking the open-for-public information-based components usage. 

On Jan 26 Dagang Net commenced the information-based component of MyPorts with the unveiling of the harmonised system (HS) tariff codes, Asean Harmonised Tariff Nomenclature (AHTN) codes, ISO Codes – Port codes, customs location codes, packaging types and country codes, weekly report on Customs exchange rates and the Registered Customs Cargo Report (Cuscar). 

MyPorts is the latest product set from Dagang Net. The components of MyPorts are categorised as information-based, document exchange-based and Application Service Provider (ASP)-based. 

Linked to the SMK-Dagang Net systems, MyPorts further automates Customs import-export documentation procedures to give users the competitive edge in the international trade arena.  

“We and the Royal Malaysian Customs are close to completing the national rollout of SMK-DagangNet and fell we need to continuously drive value to our 2,000 customers by providing real value-adds to make Dagang Net a stronger e-commerce exchange,” said Saifol Bahri. 

“Our aim is to continue to develop new service offerings and provide more vital trade information that can help customers speed up their trading processes to grant them the competitive edge in global trade. 

“Currently, the nationwide roll-out of SMK-DagangNet is 90% complete for all ports in Malaysia. These ports have either gone “live” or are in the “pilot stage”.  

“The remaining 10% such as Bukit Kayu Hitam, Tawau, Sandakan ports will come on board once the telecommunication lines are ready. 

“Customs and Dagang Net targets these remaining ports to be fully converted by April.”