Berthing Requests

Curaçao has a fully equipped control tower known as the Vessel Traffic Control Center (VTCC), situated at Fort Nassau in the Willemstad Harbor. The VTCC operates according to ISO standards since the beginning of 1999. All vessel traffic within our ports is planned and coordinated by the VTCC. Since Curaçao has five ports, the VTCC has no restrictions regarding the days of request. The berthing request is done by the shipping agent, who contacts the VTCC (channel 12) and provides the following information:

Ship’s name	Purpose of visit
ETA	ETD
LOA/BOA	Last port
Draft at arrival	Port of destination
Gross tonnage	ISPS Security Level
Type of vessel

The VTCC then provides a berth according to the purpose of the port visit and the specifications of the vessel. The agent will inform the captain of the details of the berth and report daily to the VTCC regarding (expected) arrivals, departures or shifts of vessels. The agent will also order tugboats according to the tugboat-regulations, except when an agent is not available, or in urgent cases when vessels may be in danger. Regulations determine a minimum of tugboat assistance for arriving, departing or shifting vessels.