One can broadly describe the integrated service expected by the port operator’s principal customers,shipowners and shippers. For a shipowner, the integrated service expected covers
all operations required for the ship’s call.
The services provided by the terminal operator (handling and storage) represent the most sensitive and costly parts of the call, although a vessel call also requires suitable maritime access, operational buoying, properly maintained basins protected from the swell, efficient services to the vessel (pilot, tugs, in-shore pilot), and modern electronic data interchange (EDI) and vessel traffic services (VTS), and so on. Above and beyond the service offered by the terminal operator, this means that the shipowner is sensitive to factors such as the level and reliability of the supporting services provided in the port zone.