Automate Your Navis N4 Workflow
Manual pre-advising in Navis N4 is the biggest hidden time drain in South African logistics. Booking Buddy eliminates it — connecting directly to Navis N4 to pre-advise, book, and rebook containers automatically.
Not affiliated with or endorsed by Kaleris or Transnet.
What is Navis N4?
Navis N4 is the world's most widely deployed Terminal Operating System (TOS), developed by Kaleris (formerly Navis, a subsidiary of Cargotec). It manages every aspect of a container terminal's operations: vessel planning, yard management, gate events, crane assignments, and crucially — container pre-advising and slot booking.
In South Africa, every Transnet Port Terminal runs Navis N4. That means Durban Container Terminal, Cape Town Container Terminal, Ngqura Container Terminal, and Port Elizabeth Container Terminal all use the same system. Every transporter, haulier, and freight forwarder moving containers through a South African port interacts with Navis N4 — whether they know it by that name or not.
The system requires transporters to pre-advise each container before it can physically gate into the terminal. This pre-advise record must contain accurate data — container number, booking reference, carrier mode, vessel and voyage, and the intended gate-in date. Get any of these wrong and the container is rejected at the gate, adding costs and delays to the supply chain.
The Manual Pre-Advise Problem
For a single container, the manual Navis N4 pre-advise workflow takes between 10 and 20 minutes when you account for logging in, navigating the system, entering data, checking fields, and submitting. For a typical run of 200 containers, that's an entire working shift — just on data entry that adds no value to the supply chain.
Manual Navis N4 pre-advise — one container
- Log in to the Navis N4 terminal portal
- Navigate to the pre-advise screen
- Search for the booking reference
- Enter the container number
- Set Carrier Mode to Truck
- Select vessel and voyage number
- Set the gate-in date window
- Confirm and submit
- Repeat for every container — one by one
Multiply by 200 containers = a full day of repetitive data entry.
Beyond the time cost, manual entry introduces human error. A single digit transposed in a container number, or the wrong vessel voyage selected under time pressure, means a gate rejection — which then triggers a rebook, a phone call to the shipping line, and potential demurrage charges while the container waits at the depot.
How Booking Buddy Automates N4
Booking Buddy connects to Navis N4 on your behalf and performs every pre-advise step automatically. You provide the container list — via CSV upload or paste — and the software handles the rest.
| Manual Navis N4 action | What Booking Buddy does instead |
|---|---|
| Enter container number | Auto Pre-Advise reads from CSV or paste list |
| Set Carrier Mode to Truck | Always set automatically — never forgotten |
| Enter booking reference | Mapped from your import columns automatically |
| Select vessel / voyage | Populated from import data with validation |
| Set gate-in date | Imported or calculated from your booking sheet |
| Submit each container | Submitted in sequence — 500+ per session |
Supported Terminals
Every Transnet container terminal runs Navis N4 — and Booking Buddy works across all four.
Durban Container Terminal
Pier 1 & Pier 2 — handles approximately 65% of South Africa's container volume. Highest throughput Navis N4 environment in the country.
Cape Town Container Terminal
Gateway to the Western Cape economy. Growing volumes and a critical node for agricultural and retail supply chains.
Ngqura Container Terminal
South Africa's deepwater port at Coega IDZ. Newest facility — designed for the next generation of large container vessels.
Port Elizabeth Container Terminal
Eastern Cape operations hub. Serves automotive and manufacturing exporters in the Uitenhage–PE industrial corridor.
Not affiliated with or endorsed by Kaleris or Transnet. Booking Buddy is an independent tool that automates interactions with Navis N4.
Ready to stop pre-advising manually?
Download Booking Buddy and automate your Navis N4 workflow today.