By Mark Franklin, VP, Business Development, Marcura
Harnessing hybrid port call expertise in DA processing
Shipping companies are facing rising costs across the board, making it vital to identify any areas to optimise operations. The price of fuel, hire and technologies tend to grab the spotlight as important areas of focus for the sector. Port tariffs and disbursement accounts (DAs) receive less attention, yet they offer genuine opportunities for savings through rebates, discounts and correct tariff application. Capturing these savings requires an eagle eye for detail. This is where a hybrid approach, combining technology and human oversight, can deliver results.
The complexity of port tariff validation
Navigating port tariffs is laborious work. Relevant information is often buried within hundreds of pages of documentation drawn from multiple sources. Tariffs can vary by berth, terminal and even vendors within a port, who may use different calculation methods.
Keeping abreast with these various calculations and changes through manual processes alone is very time-consuming and increases the risk of misinterpretation or mistakes
Errors are especially common when tariffs change, something which happens at least once a year. Repetitive checking also introduces operational fatigue, which can undermine both accuracy and team morale over time.
Boosting DA processing through automation
Automation plays a critical role in modern maritime DA processing. Digital systems can collect, codify and apply port tariffs at scale, automatically incorporating relevant rebates and discounts while ensuring regulatory compliance.
Automation dramatically accelerates processing, and the explosion in generative AI capabilities means the breadth and accuracy of what can be achieved is expanding rapidly.
But machines still fall short in comparison to the reasoning abilities of a human being. Human expertise remains essential to interpret edge cases, assess anomalies and apply commercial reasoning that falls outside rigid rule sets.
The most effective DA processing model uses automation to check relevant information and obscure details (both labour-intensive), while experienced professionals provide an additional layer of critical thinking and quality assurance.
This hybrid approach increases productivity and is also likely to boost morale by allowing teams to focus on higher-value work instead of repetitive tasks. Last year alone we were able to save our customers more than 800,000 hours in administrative work.
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A large-scale challenge for shipping companies
Most shipping companies do not have the resources to maintain both advanced automation systems and dedicated teams focusing exclusively on PDA and FDA review, agent payments and contract-specific discounts.
Unless operating a large fleet that regularly calls at various ports around the world, most organisations would conduct ad hoc research on rates and available discounts and scramble to apply these to their vessels - running the risk of applying the wrong type of tariff and losing savings.
How DA-Desk supports maritime DA processing
DA-Desk operates a proprietary DA Validation Engine (DAVE) that validates port call data against more than 2,000 rules. This automated validation is followed by manually screened by a team of experts, ensuring each provisional (PDA) and final disbursement account (FDA) is accurate.
Human review helps identify false positives, reducing administrative burden and ensuring outreach occurs only when truly necessary.
Managing rebates and environmental discounts
Many ports offer rebates for regular calls or environmental discounts based on emissions, fuel type or vessel speed. However, not all port authorities participate, and those that do usually apply the discounts in different ways - meaning that this is time-consuming work that would only be cost-effective if applied to a multitude of vessels calling at ports across the globe.
DA-Desk processes more than 200,000 port calls per year, drawing on a reference database of over two million historical port calls to give our customers visibility on the real costs, rebates and discounts available. We also use historical data and AIS to validate the accuracy of information provided and OCR technology to screen invoices for accuracy, including vessel name and gross tonnage (GT).
Proven results in DA validation
The hybrid approach we follow at Marcura consistently delivers measurable value. In one case, a port tariff was incorrectly applied at €0.4649 per GT instead of the correct €0.1689 per GT that our system showed. By querying the costs against the most up to date tariff in our system, our team was able to secure a €3,378 credit note for the customer.
Sometimes the savings are smaller. In another instance, AIS data helped recover £13 in incorrect dockage charges caused by a typo in vessel GT. While this amount may not seem worth the effort for individual companies to use up employee hours, even seemingly small savings can compound significantly over time.
Our data shows that we secure credit notes on approximately 4% of all final DAs checked, with an average saving of $4,300 per credit note and individual recoveries reaching as much as $380,000.
Why hybrid DA processing works
Handing the responsibility (and accountability) for DA processing to an external provider is not the right choice for every organisation. Some large operators prefer to manage disbursement accounts in-house and are prepared to allocate deep budgets to these tasks.
For most shipping companies, however, having a team of DA experts on hand with the unbeatable combination of machine processing and human expertise provides the most reliable way to control port call costs, reduce risk and unlock consistent savings. This approach underpins DA-Desk’s 99% customer retention rate and sustained year-on-year growth driven by customer recommendations.
Want to learn more about maritime DA processing?
Visit our dedicated DA management page to explore how DA-Desk supports accurate, scalable disbursement account validation.
DA-Desk processes more than 200,000 port calls per year, giving our customers visibility on the real costs, rebates and discounts available using our reference database of over two million port calls.
IINO Lines handles over 1000 port calls annually with no DA handling team
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