Stop pre-advising containers.
Start commanding them.
The automated booking and pre-advise assistant for Navis N4. Pre-advise hundreds of containers in seconds, hunt for earlier slots across all Transnet Port Terminals, and never miss a vessel cut-off again.
Works with the systems South African ports run on
Booking Buddy connects directly to the Navis N4 Terminal Operating System used at every Transnet container terminal. Pre-advise, book slots, and hunt for earlier availability — all from one desktop app.
Compatible with Navis N4 and Transnet Port Terminals. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Kaleris or Transnet.
What your day looks like without automation
Manual Navis N4 Entry
10–20 minutes per container. Typing container numbers, booking references, vessel/voyage details into N4 one by one. For 200 containers, that's an entire shift.
Missed Booking Slots
Slots are 1-hour windows. Miss yours and you forfeit it — then fight for a rebook while demurrage charges stack up.
Vessel Cut-off Anxiety
SI cut-off is 1–2 days before CY cut-off. Miss either and your cargo rolls to the next sailing. Fees pile up.
Slot Hunting by Hand
Refreshing Navis N4 hoping for earlier availability. 'Quota reached' one second, slots open the next. Competitors grab them first.
Rebooking Cascades
One wrong container number triggers a manual rebook. You lose the original slot, potentially the vessel, and hours of work.
Booking Buddy eliminates every one of these.
See how it worksWhat is container pre-advising?
Pre-advising is the mandatory step before a container can gate into a South African terminal. Transporters submit the container number, booking reference, vessel/voyage, carrier mode, and gate-in date into Navis N4 — the Terminal Operating System used at every Transnet port (Durban, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Ngqura). Get it wrong and the container is rejected at the gate. Booking Buddy handles it automatically.
Everything you need. Nothing you don't.
Built for the realities of daily terminal operations — not a generic workflow tool bolted onto shipping.
Auto Pre-Advise
Eliminates manual data entry. Every container is pre-advised to Navis N4 with correct carrier mode and validated fields — automatically.
Bulk Booking
Upload a CSV or paste a list and book hundreds of containers at once, hands-free. What used to take hours takes seconds.
Slot Hunter
Runs in the background while you're away. Finds earlier or preferred booking slots and auto-rebooks the moment they open up.
Validation Engine
Built-in rules catch bad data before it reaches the terminal — reducing rejections, phone calls, and costly re-submissions.
Audit Trail
Every booking action is logged with timestamps. Full visibility for compliance, disputes, and performance review.
Zero Learning Curve
Designed for logistics coordinators, not developers. Clean UI, sensible defaults, no training required.
- 4+ hrsSaved per operator daily
- 500+Containers per run
- 51 minAvg port turnaround at Durban
- 24/7Slot Hunter uptime
Tested at Durban Container Terminal · Navis N4 v4.x
Ready to reclaim your day?
Download Booking Buddy free and run your first bulk pre-advise in under five minutes.