The Panama Canal and the Panama Maritime Authority upgraded their Panama Maritime Single Window System (VUMPA), highlighting the positive effects of digitalization and informing that according to estimations the VUMPA has reduced the need for more than 300,000 paper forms and documents, improving the efficiency and carbon footprint of transshipment procedures and saving up to 3,260 hours on an annual basis.
Specifically, the project was launched in 2017 in efforts to boost the port’s operations and to ease the processes of reception and departure of ships and exchange of electronic information.
The VUMPA is an online platform that provides autonomous information-sharing between Panamanian agencies involved in processing the reception and departure of ships, streamlining international maritime transportation at Panamanian ports.
In addition, the updates on the VUMPA aim to boost the accuracy of cargo declarations for partnering shipping lines, whereas the one-time government fee for arrival and departure can be now checked electronically with a debit or credit card.
Additional improvements that took place include the implementation of a privacy policy, visualization of documentation submitted through the ship inspection system, creation of electronic alerts based on cargo type, inclusion of waste management reports and specific requirements from key Panamanian authorities, which can be accessed by Port State Control inspectors.
The updates will play a crucial role in costs reduction, itineraries optiomization and transparency and productivity improvement.
Recently, the Panama Maritime Authority visited its Greek offices to discuss the Panama’s plans on simplifying even more vessel registration through its “Electronic Ship Registration System”.
