The B2B interface has been tested over the past year in cooperation with Datema in the Netherlands, the first Primar distributor to fully implement the new service.

The secure interface is designed to support online customer and vessel registration and management, facilitating online quotations, ENC ordering, and the delivery of cell permits.

Primar says that the results of the pilot project demonstrated that by reducing the manual effort and simplification of ordering process it is possible to achieve a 90 per cent reduction in time and resources required for each ENC order.

The new service also enables distributors to integrate the sales transactions process involving their customers with the ordering processes from Primar, creating a single service system controlled by the distributor.

Datema, the first to implement the service, has also integrated its Chart Planner software with its back-office computer systems which, in turn, integrate with Primar - allowing the end-user to order ENC-permits directly.

The new service from Datema is called ENC-Online and will be introduced at the Europort exhibition in November 2007.

Willem Amels, the director of Datema, said: "With the new ENC-online service we allow the generation of short-validity permits (3 months). This can even be done on a per-voyage basis, thus only activating what the ship needs. Because we have automated the complete process, the requested permits are sent back in a matter of seconds".