Freight forwarders on CargoWise can now track 30 types of container-level events across New Zealand's main ports after WiseTech Global integrated its platform with PortConnect, the port community system jointly owned by Port of Auckland and Port of Tauranga.

The deal pushes near-real-time container movement data from PortConnect straight into CargoWise, replacing a picture that forwarders previously assembled mostly from vessel-level carrier messages. For landside operators in Auckland, Tauranga, Wellington, Lyttelton, Northport and Timaru, that shift matters: it converts guesswork about discharge and release times into schedulable facts.

Wide port coverage

PortConnect's network covers Northport, Port of Auckland, Port of Tauranga, Lyttelton Port Company, CentrePort Wellington and Timaru Container Terminal, along with their inland ports. CargoWise, developed by Australia-listed WiseTech Global, is one of the most widely used forwarder platforms in Australasia, so the integration reaches a large share of the country's container logistics chain in one step.

The 30 event types include vessel discharge, container release and availability, Customs and Ministry for Primary Industries clearance, truck gate-in and gate-out, and loading onto departing vessels. PortConnect sends the updates directly into CargoWise, where they refresh the status of individual containers rather than the vessel as a whole.

Commercial consequences land on the truck side

The economics of the integration sit squarely in landside transport. Carriers typically report incoming cargo at vessel level, which leaves forwarders to estimate when a specific box will clear biosecurity and Customs checks and become available for pickup. PortConnect's container-level feed closes that gap.

Forwarders can now schedule truck movements around actual container availability and storage deadlines, cutting the risk of trucks queuing for boxes that have not cleared, and reducing exposure to demurrage and storage charges — costs that have climbed across the region as port congestion flared over recent cycles.

"Integrating our data into CargoWise brings together vessel and container data enabling our customers to more efficiently manage their landside movements, as part of their wider supply chain," said David Knowles, Customer Relationship Manager at PortConnect.

The integration also merges container events with vessel schedules inside CargoWise, giving users a single, more granular view of movements through the port environment from arrival to gate-out.

"Freight forwarders using CargoWise now have access to near real time information in the port environment so that they can plan and execute transport moves more efficiently, while reducing costs from delays and demurrage fees," said Stuart Hayman, Head of Carrier Integration and Transformation at WiseTech Global.

For New Zealand forwarders, the immediate benefit is operational: fewer wasted truck runs and tighter control over free-time windows at six ports that handle the bulk of the country's container trade. For carriers and port operators, richer data flowing into forwarder systems should smooth gate throughput and spread pickup times across the day.

The move also fits WiseTech's broader pattern of wiring port community systems, carriers and customs authorities directly into CargoWise, deepening the platform's hold on cross-border execution workflows. As port data integrations become standard across major markets, forwarders on platforms without comparable connections face a widening visibility gap on landside cost control.