[10 January 2003 - Hong Kong] - Hongkong International Terminals Limited (HIT) officially launched its brand new ship planning system, Guider. The new system is a major advancement over its predecessors the SHIPS/CWPS systems.

"With the speed and volume of operations at HIT, the ability to effectively react to changing scenarios is important. Guider was designed with these factors in mind," commented Eric Ip, Managing Director of HIT.

Incorporating customer feedback, Guider was developed in-house through a collaboration between the departments of Terminal Operations, Operations Development and Information Services.

No longer operating on a mainframe, the new PC platform is both user-friendly and remarkably versatile. With Guider a user can open several voyages on a single workstation simultaneously, all working within a conventional Windows environment.

Also improved is the flow of information between HIT and the shipping lines as Guider is capable of providing electronic reports in several different formats.

Looking ahead to the mega vessels of the future, Guider has the ability to handle vessels over 10,000 TEU in size. The system also is equipped with a powerful "Wizard" function, used to quickly define a vessel’s structure and profile. The result is a 25 percent reduction in the time required to create a ship profile.

"Shipping Lines benefit from HIT's enhanced efficiency as they can rely on HIT to meet their demands, be it last minute changes or requests in the future," added Eric Ip.

Guider has been designed to accommodate future enhancements, as they are developed, ensuring that continuing improvements will be available well into the future.