This spring, work around the Maritime Traffic Notification Service NEMO has focused on building the technical foundation for the system as well as on specifying the EU regulations in both national and international working groups. The development of the system intended to replace Portnet is progressing well. But what was NEMO originally all about? Why is the new system being built? What will change in the day-to-day work of port operators in August 2025? What is the current status of the project, both in Finland and at the EU level?
What is NEMO and why is it being built?
The Maritime Traffic Notification Service NEMO will be the Finnish Maritime National Single Window (MNSW) through which passenger and cargo ships can submit their port call notifications.
The service is related to EU Regulation 2019/1239, the main objective of which is to create uniform methods for submitting the information required in the vessel report from the notifying party to the authorities. The aim also is to ensure that the same information can be entered in the same way into all national maritime information management systems within the EU. In practice, this means that each EU Member State must set up a service that, on the basis of the single notification principle, collects the statutory port call notifications into a single information management system harmonised at EU level. In Finland, this system will be NEMO.
How will the introduction of NEMO affect the day-to-day work of port operators in August 2025?
NEMO will namely change the way in which statutory port call notifications are submitted. The reporting obligations will remain the same apart from Customs goods declarations, which will be a new feature introduced in NEMO. In the future, Customs goods declarations can be submitted either through NEMO or directly into the Customs system. While reporting obligations will remain unchanged, the manner in which notifications are submitted will be different.
In the current Portnet system, notifications are submitted by filling in long user interface forms or by uploading Excel spreadsheets or other documents. Notifications can also be submitted via an electronic interface. In NEMO, reporting obligations will be handled by submitting a number of EU formalities, either through a user interface, an Excel form or an API. As each port call requires several notifications to be submitted, the so-called single notification principle will be applied in which information entered once can be reused in several places.
NEMO will be introduced in Finland in August 2025. Testing of the implementation will take place from autumn 2024 to spring 2025. NEMO users will also receive training at several training events and through webinars. Web-based material for independent study will also be provided. More detailed information on the schedule will be provided in the stakeholder newsletter and on the NEMO project website.
Access to port call-related data
The EU will determine which information under the reporting obligation the Member States will be required to submit through the common information management system and in which format.
In other words, changes introduced by the deployment of NEMO do not mean that all port call-related data will be open to everyone; the data will continue to only be disclosed to parties that have the legal right to access it. However, the opportunity can be provided to voluntarily report other information related to port operators, which would benefit the development of the business of maritime operators.
Technical specifications progressing at EU level
Data exchange harmonisation work has progressed at the EU level, and maritime information management systems compliant with the EMSW Regulation will become mandatory in EU Member States in 2025.
As the most important EU Regulation, the so-called EMSW data set has been confirmed, which specifies the format in which Member States must submit the information under reporting obligations. The IMO has harmonised standards and definitions for data exchange environments in order to make international data exchange more compatible. With the adoption of the EU Regulations, the need to amend national regulations will also be examined in Finland.
