AI-Powered Cargo Vessel Arrival Forecasting for Ports
Logistics · Planning & Decision-making
What it collects
- Aggregate bulk vessel registry data from the Port of Vancouver, covering vessel schedules and arrivals. No personal information is involved.
- Run by
- Transport Canada (TC)
- Where
- No fixed location
- Kept
- Not stated by the Helpful Places.
- Shared with
- Accountable organization
What it is for
This system uses machine learning to forecast when cargo vessels will arrive at the Port of Vancouver. It was developed as a pilot project by Transport Canada in 2024 to improve operational planning visibility. The system processed aggregate vessel registry data and its outputs were used by Government of Canada employees — not the general public. The project has since been retired.
What it collects and what happens to it
Data taken in
- Aggregate bulk vessel registry data from the Port of Vancouver, covering vessel schedules and arrivals. No personal information is involved.
Processing
- A machine learning model trained on historical vessel registry data to forecast future cargo vessel arrival times or patterns at the Port of Vancouver.
What it does
- The model predicts and forecasts cargo vessel arrival times from structured registry data, producing scores or rankings that GC employees use to inform operational decisions — no automated decision-making about individual vessels or persons.
Outputs
- Forecasts of cargo vessel arrival times or volumes, provided as advisory outputs to GC employees to support operational planning — not binding decisions.
Run by
- Transport Canada is the federal department that led this machine learning pilot project, collaborating with the Port of Vancouver to forecast cargo vessel arrivals for operational planning purposes.
Transport Canada AI Register — Cargo Vessel Forecasting (2526-TC-012)
Built by
Not stated by the Helpful Places.
Kept for
Not stated by the Helpful Places.
Shared with
- Outputs were available to GC employees (Transport Canada and collaborating Port of Vancouver staff) for operational planning purposes only.
Stored
Not stated by the Helpful Places.
How to read the colours
Can it identify you?
- Anonymized data
- Data about people with the link to who is broken. Stripped of identifiers, blurred, aggregated, or noised so this system can’t reasonably tie a record back to an individual.
- Pseudonymous data
- Each person’s data is tied to a token (hash, ID, template) that lets this system recognise the same person across events, but the token itself doesn’t reveal a name. Reidentification is possible with extra information.
- Identifiable data
- The data either contains a direct identifier (name, address, account name, recognisable face or voice, plate number) or carries a token this system uses to look up legal identity during processing.
Who completes the loop?
- Human decides
- This mode suggests; a person decides what to do next. The AI is always advisory — a human is in the loop on every decision. Example: a triage tool ranks cases for a clinician who chooses which to see first.
- Human executes
- This mode decides; a person carries out the result. Example: an optimizer plans the day’s trash-collection routes, and drivers run them.
- Autonomous
- This mode decides and acts on its own. No person reviews each decision or carries out the resulting action.
Definitions from the DTPR standard. Amber is about your data, violet about who decides. The fuller the shape and the deeper the colour, the more identifying the data or the less a person is involved.
- AI registerTransport Canada AI Register — Cargo Vessel Forecasting (2526-TC-012)Government of Canada Open Data AI Register, record ID 2526-TC-012, Transport Canada.
- AI registerTransport Canada AI Register — Cargo Vessel Forecasting (2526-TC-012)
- Register entryPublished by the Helpful Places. Reference 6ffd2555. This disclosure was drafted with AI assistance.Schema: ai@2026-05-06-beta
What you can do
Ask about this system
Questions go to the Helpful Places, not the vendor.
Your rights
- Right to Algorithmic TransparencyThis system is listed in the Government of Canada's public AI register. Members of the public may consult the register entry for general information about the system's purpose and data sources. The project has been retired as of the register publication date.
Risks and safeguards
No risks or safeguards have been published for this system yet.