Ships approaching the pilot boarding area
Ships entering the pilot boarding area, to the pilot station every 15 minutes.
What it does
Every 15 minutes: ships moving into your pilot boarding area (live AIS), with their size and destination, sent to the pilot station on WhatsApp so a pilot is ready.
In one sentence: Every 15 minutes, in Antwerp, watch the ships, see which enter the zone, write a summary of each with xMap AI, then send message in WhatsApp Business and email the list to you.
Why it is useful
A ship waiting for a pilot wastes fuel and slots. The station sees it coming and has a pilot ready.
Who it is for
Ports, shipping & maritime. Port operators, ship agents, marine suppliers, terminals and marinas following vessels, weather and the business around the water. Every use case for ports & shipping
Best use cases
- A pilot station
- A port control centre
- A marine services company
What each run gives you
- A WhatsApp message
The time it saves
Every 15 minutes. Doing the same work by hand takes about 10 minutes each time; it runs about 2880 times a month, so it saves about 40 hours a month (an estimate). It is medium: 7 blocks.
The flow, block by block
- Every 15 minutesTrigger · ScheduleStarts the flow on a timetable.
- The pilot boarding areaWhere · Area of interestSets where the flow looks: countries, cities or specific places, or areas you draw on a map.
- Moving ships nearbyxMap data · Ships (AIS)Ships at sea or in port right now, from AIS (the signal ships send with their position, speed and heading; live from AISStream): every vessel heard in the Area of interest before this block, or around a point.
- Entered the boarding areaLogic · Zone alertReports items (ships, for example) that entered, crossed, are inside or left a zone.
- Describe each ship with xMap AIxMap AI · xMap LLMTell the AI what to do in plain words.
- Alert the pilot stationApp · WhatsApp BusinessSend text, media and template messages from your WhatsApp Business number.
- Email me the resultsAction · EmailSends one email per run with all the items, or one email per item.
Every block can be changed after you use the template: the city, the type of place, the score, where the results go.
Use it now
Answer a few questions, enter your work email, and it runs in your own account, kept running until you pause it. Use this template.
How to set it up
- Zone alerts: know when something enters an area: Ships, vehicles or any moving item crossing your zone.
- Ships (AIS): Ships in a sea area, their type, speed and destination.
- Build your first flow in ten minutes: From a blank page to a flow that emails you a ranked list every morning.
- Draw your areas and points: Shapes, circles and points with a distance around each.
- Geofencing: A virtual boundary that triggers something when an item enters or leaves it.
- AIS (ship tracking): Radio messages ships send with their identity, position and course.
- How to be alerted when ships enter a port area: A zone, a live AIS stream and an alert.
More for Ports, shipping & maritime
- New shipping companies and forwarders in the port city: New shipping firms and forwarders, scored as marine insurance clients.
- Hotels near the port for crew changes: The best hotels near the port, for crew changes.
- Shipyards for my coatings and paint sales: Shipyards graded as coatings buyers, with the purchasing manager.
- Ferry terminals with few fast chargers nearby: Ferry terminals with the fewest fast chargers nearby, every month.
- Ships crossing the strait, every day: Ships crossing a strait each day, by type, with a trade note.
- Ships waiting at anchor, for the berth planner: The queue at anchor every hour, by type, for the berth planner.