Vesta Terminals Antwerp is located in the Port of Antwerp Bruges, Belgium, and is among two other Vesta facilities across northern Europe. In 2022, they added five new tanks for storing bio-jet fuel, gasoline, or diesel, bringing the total capacity of Vesta Terminal Antwerp to 950,000 m3.

As an active terminal, process efficiency must be considered. Smartflow’s main goal is to create a more efficient process at terminals, with less back-and-forth and minimal errors.

Read the Customer Use Case below:

In order to be compliant with the National and International Guidelines (ISGOTT 6), the Vesta team had to fill out reams of paperwork. This had to be completed by different parties at different times during the pre-berthing and berthing process and became a time-consuming issue. This was one of the key reasons for turning to Smartflow for a solution.

Vesta sought a solution to help them digitalize and further optimize the ISGOTT process.

‘We wanted all parties to have the latest up-to-date information immediately available,’ explains Koen Van den Heuvel, shift team leader at Vesta Terminal Antwerp. 

After analyzing different options, Vesta decided that Smartflow’s solution was the most suitable option.

‘Often, we see terminals coming to Smartflow when they are looking to reduce costs while increasing efficiency, to create a safety culture, and have a transparent view of all their processes,’ says Bart Musters, product owner at Smartflow.

Smartflow also noticed that terminals and vessels were experiencing many difficulties during processes that usually take several days to execute and are executed hundreds of times yearly. Smartflow conducted research to develop a standardized solution.

‘For this, there needed to be many conversations and workshops with management, shift leaders, loading masters, planners, vessel captains, and others. As well as a lot of testing by the end users,’ explains Bart.

The solution has been improved over the past two years based on input from customers in the field. Thanks to this upfront research, we have created a customizable solution that can be rolled out in a matter of weeks.

Smartflow’s Digital ISGOTT solution aims to make the lives of those working at the terminal safer and the vessel captain’s life easier.

Using Smartflow’s Digital ISGOTT solution, terminals can do most of this administrative work in advance since they can collaborate remotely.

This proves very beneficial because it decreases a vessel’s idle time, speeds up the process, and gives back time and headspace to vessel captains and terminal personnel to focus on safety. By storing everything digitally, Smartflow’s Digital ISGOTT solves a lot of audit and compliance issues.

Watch Vesta Terminals & Smartflow Interview by Tank Storage Magazine.

With Smartflow’s Digital ISGOTT solution in place, all parties are proactively informed of pre-berthing and other required information, which is key to safe operations between the terminal and the visiting vessels.

 ‘Not only is this a huge time-saver, but it also further improves our safety level as the system minimizes human error, as all required safety information is checked automatically,’ says Koen Van den Heuvel. 

During Covid, this solution was vital; no paper bundles needed to be exchanged, so there was no need for direct contact between various parties. 

Now the digital floodgates have opened, Vesta has plans to continue: 

‘We will keep making significant investments to modernize our operations to meet market demands and to further improve our safety level,’says Koen Van den Heuvel.

‘Vesta has a very dedicated and agile team that is able to service specific needs of our customers due to our experience and proactive approach,’ says COO of Vesta Terminals, Daan Schutte.

The team takes pride in providing the best service in every way and continues to think two steps ahead to be able to make a difference for their customers, and by digitalizing their system, Vesta is succeeding in this.

Vesta Terminals does not only want to be ahead when it comes to digitalization but is also striving to be a frontrunner in the energy transition. With backing from its shareholders, Vesta is pursuing different angles to work towards a renewable future, with the main focus being on green ammonia to supply the future hydrogen demand.

 ‘We are also growing in our biofuels-related business and investigating new renewable energy-related developments,’ says Daan Schutte. 

Since 2021, Vesta has focused its business development initiatives on renewable energy to cater to the energy transition at hand.

Take advantage of a fully digitized ISGOTT process from start to finish, intuitive and user-friendly. With a mobile and a desktop version, terminal personnel, and vessel captains can use it anytime, anywhere.

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