After more than a year of intensive work and significant investment, we are on the verge of launching the new version of Bargelink. On Monday October 19th at around 6 pm, we will take the current version offline and install the new version. We expect to be offline for just a few hours. The following morning, you should be able to log in again and discover all the new features. To ensure this goes smoothly, we recommend that you make a note of your login (username) and password, as you will need to log in again after the launch.

Today, we’d like to give you a preview of the most important new features.

More information at a glance

On the new homepage, you can now find key information about the current market. This includes:

1. The number of vessels and cargoes currently on offer
2. The ratio of vessel tonnage on offer to cargo tonnage on offer
3. Two charts illustrating market dynamics
4. Information about companies, users and vessels

Marta – the virtual assistant

On the right-hand side, you’ll see a blue icon with speech bubbles. Behind it lies our virtual assistant, Marta. Powered by AI, she can answer almost any question about Bargelink – in many languages.

Of course, our human team is still here to help you. Marta steps in whenever we happen to be unavailable.

We have made two changes to the BARGES module:

1. You can now see a ship’s key details at a glance:
   1. Operator
   2. Contact details
   3. Barges’s name
   4. Tonnage, cubic capacity, dimensions
   5. Where and when is it available for hire?
2. Clicking on the entire row reveals all further details. The holds and their dimensions are now listed first.

We have redesigned the CARGO module in the same style. Here, too, the most important information is immediately apparent:

• Carrier + contact details
• Cargo type & tonnage
• Loading port + destination
• Here, too, a single click is all it takes to view all the details; the status can also be changed there.

We have also completely revamped the Bargelink Business Cockpit (BBC). Here, we have brought together a range of interesting market information:

Market Barometer: Displays the ratio (number or tonnage) of barges and cargoes currently on offer.

Market Dynamics – Cargo: This section displays the dynamic trends in cargo offers over the last 30 days, 3, 6 and 12 months. You can filter by origin and destination regions as well as by cargo groups. Premium account users can apply additional filters and view longer time periods.

Market Dynamics – Barges: Shows the trend in barge capacity on offer by tonnage class over six different time periods.

BBC Map: Displays a graphical map of Europe showing cargoes and barges by country or trading area.

In the new sub-menu you will find:

• A map showing where our partners are located in Europe
• A map with information on the Bargelink fleet
• Pegel-Online
• The Big&Heavy map showing transhipment points for large/heavy goods
• Bargelink News
• A way to recommend Bargelink to others

There are also two external links to:

• Answers to almost all the important questions about Bargelink
• Cargo-Platform – our information and news portal

In connection with our new digital assistant, Marta, we have also had to update the information on data protection. As before, we continue to process only the data that is absolutely necessary for the operation of our platform. The AI for the chatbot is hosted on servers in Germany; the data processed remains within the EU and does not leave the scope of the GDPR.

We have kept the prices for Bargelink’s modules unchanged since January 2019. However, Bargelink has not been immune to the various price rises. Server costs, development, technical support, energy and much more have become more expensive. Overall, the cumulative rate of inflation in Europe from 2019 to the present day has been approximately 28.5 per cent.

Despite significant investments in the future, we have managed our finances prudently. From January 2027, we will be increasing the rates for your subscriptions by an average of 12.5 per cent. This is just under half the rate of inflation between 2019 and 2026.

We are confident that this will enable us to secure the future of the marketplace without placing an undue financial burden on anyone. Bargelink will continue to cost less than 1.50 euros per working day for the vast majority of customers!

The new prices will be displayed (after the relaunch) on the new Modules & Prices page.