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How SKAI works

SKAI is the hub. Data comes in once, is completed and checked, and then goes out as several declarations. The principal and the declarant look at the same file. This is the architecture, the standard import chain, and the version that runs on events around the clock.

Architecture

Four layers. One file.

Data comes in once. SKAI completes it, shows it and files it. Once the file is approved and complete, the chain runs 24/7.

  1. 01

    Input

    PDF, CSV, Excel, JSON, mail, API, EDI, FTP. It all becomes one file.

  2. 02

    Completion

    Portbase, MyTerminal and Customs fill in what the documents omit.

  3. 03

    Interface

    Declarant, principal and support see the same file, with different buttons.

  4. 04

    Output

    T1, unloading, IMA, CHED, CDS. Same source. Different counter.

Circular diagram with SKAI as the portal in the centre, input on the left, Portbase completion above, user interface below and declarations on the right.

What counts as input?

Input is everything that brings a consignment into SKAI: PDF, CSV, Excel, JSON, HTML, EDI, mail, API, FTP or an upload on screen. The format does not matter. SKAI reads invoices, packing lists, bills of lading, CMRs, health certificates and EUR.1 forms, and points every field back to the place on the document it came from. Once the file is approved and complete, the chain runs 24/7, including outside office hours.

Any format. One file.

  • PDF

    Documents

  • CSV

    Files

  • Excel

    Spreadsheets

  • JSON

    Messages

  • API

    Integration

  • EDI

    Stream

  • Mail

    Inbox

  • FTP

    Drop

  • HTML

    Webmail

  • Upload

    Screen

What does data completion add to the file?

What you get from the principal is rarely the whole consignment. The bill of lading names the vessel, not whether it is already on the quay. The invoice names the goods, not the container number the terminal uses. SKAI fetches those missing pieces from external systems such as Portbase, MyTerminal and Customs.

From the chain. Into the file.

  • Portbase

    Vessel, arrival, release

  • MyTerminal

    Container, quay, unloading

  • Customs

    Status, MRN, messages

File complete

Who looks at the file in the interface?

The file is not only the declarant's. The principal wants to see whether the consignment has been declared, whether an inspection is running, whether the container may move. The forwarder wants exceptions, not the consignments that already check out. Support wants the source document on a field DMS refuses. SKAI shows the same file to those roles, with different buttons.

app.skaihub.com/dossiers/2026-04281
Dossier #2026-04281
Processing
  • Commercial Invoice
    Commodity codes · values · weights
    Waiting
  • Packing List, 48 lines
    Quantities · line matching
    Waiting
  • Health Certificate
    Origin · validity · signature
    Waiting
  • EUR.1 Certificate
    Preferential origin
    Waiting
  • Bill of Lading
    Container · vessel · port of loading
    Waiting
01
Intake
02
Enrich
03
Prepare
04
File
···
Processing

What goes out as output?

Output is the declaration or the notification a gateway will accept. In the Netherlands that is an IMA, STO or ATO in DMS, a T1 or T2 in NCTS, an H7 in DECO, a CHED in TRACES-NT. In the United Kingdom that is a CDS import or export and an ENS. Belgium and Ireland sit in the same live set. Each channel gets its own data set, but the source is the file, not a new form.

DMS

Import declaration

IMA

File
#2026-04281
MRN
26NL00000000000001
Status
Filed

Standard chain

From T1 to import declaration, from one file

A common chain in the port does not start at the import declaration. The container arrives, often still under a T1 from the terminal or from the quay to an inland place. SKAI raises that T1 from the file: the data that was already in at intake, completed with what Portbase has reported about vessel and container.

Chain from T1 document through warehouse and unload permission to import declaration, with SKAI as the portal under the steps.

Fully automatic

Validate first. Then the event pulls.

In the standard flow somebody still presses file, even though the file is full. In the event-driven chain that press is gone for the consignments that have passed validation. Up front SKAI checks the data: commodity code against the tariff database and TARIC, VAT through VIES, EORI against the register, documents against each other on weight, value and quantity. What does not check out stays put. What checks out may enter the chain.

Validation up front

Approved, the chain may run

  1. Event

    Vessel at the terminal

    SKAI

    01Raise the T1

  2. Event

    Container left the terminal

    SKAI

    02Request unloading

  3. Event

    Unloading approved

    SKAI

    03File the import declaration

Around the clock. A container into the warehouse at five in the morning does not wait for office hours.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between SKAI and a declaration package?
A declaration package starts at the form. SKAI starts at the file. Documents, port messages and master data come in once, and from that point a T1, unloading, import, export or CDS goes out, without entering the consignment again.
Which files and sources can SKAI read?
PDF, CSV, JSON, HTML, Excel, EDI, mail, API, FTP and an upload in the screen. The source can be a WMS, TMS, ERP or a mailbox per client. Format is not a product boundary. The file is: everything that belongs to the same consignment comes together.
What does Portbase add to a file?
Messages about the vessel, the container and the terminal: arrival, discharge, departure from the terminal, release. SKAI puts those messages in the file where the documents already sit, and in Rotterdam and Amsterdam links the MRN to the container number.
Who is allowed to see the file?
Declarant, forwarder, principal and support, each with their own rights. The principal gets visibility on status and documents. The declarant gets the discrepancies. There is no second truth beside SKAI.
Are T1, unloading and the import declaration made from the same file?
Yes. The same weights, the same commodity code, the same EORI. The T1, the unload permission and the IMA are three outputs of one data set. You enter the consignment once.
Can SKAI file declarations at night?
Yes, for the chain you have already approved. Once validation has passed, the Portbase event pulls the next step: T1 on arrival at the terminal, unloading on departure, IMA once unloading is in. Exceptions stay for a declarant.

Book a demo and bring a consignment for which you have the Portbase messages. You will see the chain from T1 to IMA on events.

SKAI is the hub. Data comes in once, is completed and checked, and then goes out as several declarations. The principal and the declarant look at the same file. This is the architecture, the standard import chain, and the version that runs on events around the clock.

Book a demo