Business View Caribbean | April 2019

67 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN APRIL 2019 built. Until then, cruise ships anchored in the bay. In 2009, the second cruise pier was built, and both are still managed by Port St. Maarten Group of Companies, today. The piers can berth six cruise ships; two of the world’s largest, Genesis-class and four ships up to 140,000 tons - beautiful to behold, though quite the logistical challenge. Port St. Maarten’s other operations include cargo, real estate (the rental of stores on port premises), and yachting. Van Kooten reports, “We have one berth for what we call giga-yachts. Our location at St. Maarten is very close to St. Barts and Anguilla; hot spots where billionaires like to hang out with their yachts. Those vessels are so big that regular marinas can hardly accommodate them, but we can. As for cargo, we’re the sole cargo port for St. Maarten. We own the facilities, we own the mobile cranes to take out the containers from the cargo vessels, and then third parties distribute them inland.” Simpson Bay Lagoon Authority Corporation (SLAC) is mostly known for its yachting marinas and is another part of the Port St. Maarten Group. It manages the two bridges in the lagoon and has IT Partner B.V. is a software development company, founded 20 years ago, offering software products for ports and cruise industry. Since 2009, Port St. Maarten is fully automated by using IT Partner software for port management, container, general cargo and ro-ro operations, dock master/berth planning, cruise and ultra-yacht services as well as billing and invoicing. Just recently IT Partner signed an agreement with Port St. Maarten for developing a Port Community System (Center PCS). This system is an extension to the port, to enable all parties within the logistics chain of the port, to exchange information easily, safely and efficiently. IT Partners key product-line is CENTER, a collection of software products that together service terminal, port and cruise operational workflow and management. Please let us briefly introduce the CENTER products. CENTER PCS is a cloud-based port community system to exchange information between different parties in the seaport logistics chain. CENTER PORT MANAGEMENT controls all port movements and assets. CENTER ERP is a terminal operating system (TOS) for deepsea, shortsea and inland container operations. CENTER MASTERPLAN enables extensive yard planning, vessel planning, quay planning and move control. CENTER CLIENT PORTAL connects to CENTER ERP or your existing TOS, and operates as a portal to the outside world. Your own organization, customers and suppliers have access to the necessary information and operational control. CENTER APPS is a complete mobile software solution for all your port and cruise logistics activities. CENTER INTELLIGENCE is a business intelligence solution that enables you to make effective insightful decisions based on facts and real time information. ...... For more information about our products and services, please visit our website www.itpartner.nl PORT ST . MAARTEN GROUP OF COMPANI ES