The National Association of Ship Agents (Asonave) issued an alert regarding the current conditions of the Single Maritime Window (Vumar), warning that critical gaps persist that could affect the normal flow of agency activities if they are not corrected before the system’s implementation in the Valparaíso Region, scheduled for next November 3.
During the ninth session of the Operative & Boats Committee, which brought together representatives from all agencies nationwide, along with authorities from the Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications (MTT), consistent reports were gathered from Arica to Punta Arenas.
“What we ask of the Ministry of Transport is to ensure that Vumar truly functions as a single window and does not increase the operational burden,” stated Claudio Morales, executive vice president of Asonave, adding that today work is still being duplicated and triplicated for ship agents due to incomplete integration and manual validations.
Claudio Morales emphasized that “our associated agencies have done their part and more, but we need reciprocity from the authorities, whose services converge in this single window with real-time responses, real interoperability, and 24/7 support before it is implemented in the country’s most complex region, which corresponds to the ports of Valparaíso and San Antonio.”
During the meeting held with representatives from the Logistics Development Program of the Ministry of Transport, led by Antonio Dourthé, Logistics Development Coordinator, and Gonzalo Frigerio, Coordinator of the Maritime, River Transport Department, each of the ship agencies where the system is already operational raised their technical and operational problems, which have generated difficulties in maritime-port activities.
Among the identified shortcomings, detailed to the MTT officials, are aspects such as Vumar not operating as a single window, since services like Customs, PDI, Health, and other authorities still require emails, calls, and physical documents to give approvals.
Likewise, they stated that there are delays incompatible with the real operation of the entire process, with entry orders experiencing delays of up to 30 days in cases of manual correction.
Furthermore, there is a lack of continuous operational support, with a Help Desk that does not cover night shifts, and where there is no emergency telephone number.
Another point raised refers to the critical gap in regions, such as Iquique, where the PDI does not operate on certain days due to a lack of personnel, emphasizing that this would be unsustainable in Valparaíso or San Antonio due to the volume of cargo handled by the ports.
In the same meeting, Gonzalo Frigerio Ibar, coordinator of the Department of Maritime, River and Lake Transport of the Ministry of Transport, acknowledged the operational challenges presented, indicating that the system is in the process of improvement and 24/7 availability will be reinforced, so that the deployment in the Valparaíso Region is robust and does not affect the continuity of operations.
Frigerio added that the ministry issued official letters to each of the authorities of the services that make up the Single Maritime Window, requesting they strengthen their teams and response times to avoid delays.
Controlled Pilot Run in the Central Zone
At the close of the session, the executive vice president of Asonave, Claudio Morales, valued the instance and reaffirmed the guild’s complete willingness to continue actively collaborating in the correct implementation of the system.
“We agencies are committed to making this platform work, but it is essential that the single window does not become an additional operational burden, but rather a true tool that streamlines processes. Therefore, we insist on the importance of starting with a controlled pilot run in the central zone, so that the necessary adjustments are made before the full deployment,” stated Morales.
“We value this instance of dialogue and hope that our observations will be taken as a concrete contribution to strengthening the system for the benefit of the entire maritime logistics chain,” expressed the vice president of the organization.
