Secure container release

“Walk into a major European seaport and you will see the investment in security everywhere: fences, cameras, smart gates, patrols, all designed to keep cargo safe. Yet when a container is released, the process in most ports still hinges on a single PIN code. This code is the digital key to the container, passed from carrier to forwarder, from forwarder to haulier, and eventually to the driver. By the time the truck reaches the gate, it has typically changed hands eight times,” explains Nico Wauters, CEO, T-Mining.

Wauters makes a highly valid point. Every exchange of the PIN code is a weak point because each time a PIN code is shared it can potentially be intercepted, copied, or deliberately leaked. The result of these weak links is predictable: stolen cargo, frontline staff exposed to criminal pressure and in the end reputational damage for carriers, terminals and ports.

As Wauters explains: “It’s striking, that after all that investment in infrastructure and surveillance, access to the container still comes down to a number in an email or WhatsApp message. It’s the equivalent of putting a vault door on the warehouse and leaving the key under the doormat.”

THE FIX – THE DIGITAL TOKEN
Secure Container Release (SCR) built by T-Mining, was created to close this weak link. Instead of using a PIN code, the right to collect a container is issued as a secure digital token.

Moreover, this token is unique, cannot be copied, and can only be passed on through the official chain (from carrier to forwarder, to the haulier and in the end the driver). Every transfer is recorded and verified, creating a tamper-proof chain of custody.

This means at the terminal gate, staff simply verify the driver’s identity against a valid digital token, giving frontline teams greater safety and certainty, and removing the risk of PIN-code fraud for carriers and terminal – or as Wauters says, “Locking the weak link in container logistics.”

LOCAL PROGRESS, GLOBAL FRAGMENTATION
Fixing the weak link solves the operational challenge. But for ocean carriers, the bigger test is strategic.

Across Europe, several ports have made secure release a priority in their port community system roadmap, rolling out their own local solutions. It is a welcome sign that the need for more secure processes is recognised, yet each rollout is in essence border bound and tied to one port and one ecosystem.

“For carriers, who move boxes across dozens of ports, this quickly turns into fragmentation. Every system brings its own technical and operational demands, forcing carriers into a patchwork of port-specific integrations. What adds value locally becomes fragmentation at scale, driving up costs and limiting the ability of carriers to streamline and automate their release process,” explains Wauters.

At the same time, the customers of the ocean carriers, the beneficial cargo owners and shippers (and their freight forwarders) are looking beyond just the local arrangements.

Supply chains span multiple countries, and every variation in the release process adds costs and complexity, so BCOs and the like expect their ocean carrier partners to offer a standardised process across ports, to ensure predictability and smooth operations across borders and the wider transport network.

SAFE AND SECURE STANDARDS
“This is exactly the role of SCR,” explains Wauters, adding: “In regions where no secure release process exists, SCR provides a ready-to-use solution. In ports where community systems have already developed their own initiatives, SCR works with them so carriers can follow one uniform process across countries instead of a different one in every port.”

This approach ensures each port community keeps control of its local ecosystem, while carriers replace a patchwork of port-specific integrations with one consistent approach across their global network. With a single integration, they can gain lower costs, smoother operations and the predictability their customers will welcome.

What began as a pilot in Antwerp in 2020 has grown into a proven solution. Today, SCR is used by three of the world’s five largest carriers – MSC, Hapag-Lloyd and CMA CGM – alongside more than 7,000 freight forwarders and transport companies.

“The platform connects over 30 terminals and ports, is live in Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK and Poland, and serves users in more than 25 countries. At Antwerp’s MPET terminal, containers have been released without PIN codes since early 2023, demonstrating secure operations at one of Europe’s busiest deep-sea gateways. Now, in 2025, the Port of Limburg became the first inland terminal to go completely PIN-codefree – proof that SCR works in practice, at scale, and in even the most complex logistics environments,” concludes Wauters.