Interview

“Undermining is a multi-headed monster. And thanks to the Secure Chain, one of those heads has now been cut off.” As (State) Harbour Master of Rotterdam, René de Vries notes that the new, secure and reliable approach to releasing containers has put an end to the issue of PIN code fraud. “The Secure Chain helps […]

“We’ve experienced hundreds of incidents involving PIN code fraud in the port in the past,” says Jan Janse, Head of Seaport Police Rotterdam. “But with the introduction of the Secure Chain for container cargo from South America, the issue was eliminated overnight.” According to Janse, the Secure Chain is a prime example of a successful

“Thanks to the Secure Chain, we have not witnessed any incidents of smuggling or theft involving PIN code fraud since early 2025.” For Peter van Buijtenen, this is one of the most notable positive outcomes of the new operational approach in the port for releasing and collecting containers without the use of a PIN code.

As the industry organisation representing forwarders, Fenex is one of the co-initiators of the Secure Chain. Cuno Vat, Chairman of Fenex and CEO of Neele-Vat, is enthusiastic about the collaboration. “The Secure Chain is primarily aimed at improving security in the port of Rotterdam, but it also lays the groundwork for various new methods of

The implementation of the Secure Chain is a subproject within the comprehensive ‘Uitvoeringsagenda Haven’ (Port Implementation Programme). Project director Rien van der Steenoven explains the details of this joint public-private programme to combat undermining and underlines why the secure and reliable release of import containers constitutes such an important component in this. “Eliminating the PIN

The verification of the operating carrier at the gate of a container terminal constitutes a separate component of the Secure Chain. This takes place using EAN numbers issued by Secure Logistics. The EAN number on the CargoCard of the visiting driver must match the EAN number specified in the pre-notification of the inland operator. Only

The Port of Rotterdam Authority is one of the initiators of the Secure Chain. “Through this initiative, we are making the port more secure and therefore more attractive,” says Matthijs van Doorn. According to the Vice President Commercial, the collaboration between parties in the logistics chain is yielding tangible results. “One should not want to

As the agent in Rotterdam of the large Chinese shipping line, COSCO Shipping Netherlands on average handles fourteen deepsea vessels and feeders every week. To facilitate the release of incoming import containers, the company is switching to the Secure Chain, sailing area by sailing area. “Customers acknowledge that the Secure Chain contributes to solving a

All the links in the logistics chain are able to easily participate in the Secure Chain. If a single container is involved, the web will suffice; for larger volumes, a system interface is ideal. Modality, which supplies software for intermodal container logistics, has already provided numerous customers with an extension of their existing API interface

It recently became daily practice: an automatic check at the terminal gate to verify whether the visiting driver is affiliated with the inland operator that has submitted the pre-notification via Portbase. As the final step in the Secure Chain, the ECT Delta terminal and the ECT Euromax terminal introduced the check on the 1st of