With the deployment of Agent Delivery Order (AGDORD) message last week, Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) is now live with all 36 operational messages on Application Program Interface (API).
MbPT was the first major port in the country to take up the initiative and commenced API development and testing with the redesigned Port Community System- PCS 1x.
MbPT and the PCS 1x team started the process on December 15, 2019, and the Phase I set of 15 messages was deployed on production by January 20, 2020. Phase II set of 6 messages was deployed on June 9, 2020, Phase III set of 14 messages on June 19, 2020, and the last message AGDORD was deployed on July 13, 2020. This completes the 36 messages on production.
PCS 1x and MbPT have also deployed a mechanism that will have functionality to resend messages which may be not transmitted (sent/received) due to network error.
Sanjay Bhatia, Chairman, Indian Ports Association (IPA) and also the Chairman of MbPT, thanked the teams of IPA, MbPT and Portall for overcoming many hurdles and achieving this feat. “It may be recalled that MbPT was also the first port in India to move 100% to PCS 1x for Electronic Delivery Order (eDO),” noted Bhatia.
API integration of PCS 1x and ports was initiated based on the need for nil lag and real-time transfer of messages between the port operating systems and PCS 1x.
It was the initiative of Indian Ports Association (IPA) and other officials to introduce API as mode of transfer to achieve real-time transfer of data, whereas the earlier message exchange was via EDI, SFTP with short interval retrieval. This was aimed at enhancing the user experience of stakeholders and custodians to access the details from the messages without any delay.
Many ports across India, CFSs, ICDs and other stakeholders are at varying stages on the move to API with PCS 1x.
