Europe · Netherlands

Ship Chandler Software for
Rotterdam

Ship chandlers at Port of Rotterdam use Tidal to turn RFQ emails into priced quotes in under 30 minutes, matched to their own catalogue and margin rules. Send us one real RFQ and we will quote it with you on a 30 minute call.

Built for ship chandlers and marine suppliers who quote vessels calling at Rotterdam
One AI-native ERP for RFQs, quotes, purchase orders, invoices and stock, matched to your own catalogue and margin rules
You approve every line before the quote goes out. Live in about a week, no IT team needed

See how it works Is Tidal right for you?

Get a live demo on one of your own RFQs

Leave your work email and company. We reply within one business day to set up 30 minutes, then quote a real RFQ from Rotterdam with you.

Looking for a ship chandler in Rotterdam, or selling to us? Read this first.

Is this for you?

Software for the chandlers who supply Rotterdam, not a chandler

Tidal is quoting software. Ship chandlers and marine suppliers use it to answer buyer RFQs faster. We do not supply vessels ourselves.

A good fit if you

Run a chandlery or marine supply business serving vessels at Rotterdam
Retype buyer RFQs into spreadsheets or your ERP before you can price them
Lose orders because a faster supplier answered first
Want consistent prices and margins on every quote, whoever prepares it

Not the right page if you

Need provisions or stores delivered to a vessel. Tidal does not supply ships, please contact a local chandler or your ship agent.
Want to sell products or services to Tidal. The demo form is for chandlers and suppliers looking at the software.
Are looking for a job. Please see the Agility careers page.

How it works

From buyer RFQ to priced quote, on your own catalogue

What changes for a Rotterdam chandler on the first day with Tidal.

1
RFQ arrives
By email, PDF, Excel or a portal export. Tidal reads every line, including vague descriptions and missing codes.
2
Lines matched
Each line is matched to your own catalogue and item codes, with unclear lines flagged for your team.
3
Priced your way
Your supplier prices, client tiers and margin rules are applied. You review and approve every line.
4
Quote goes out
Send the quote, turn it into a sales order, then check supplier invoices against it when they arrive.

See it working

A real quote, priced line by line

Quote Desk

Turns buyer RFQs into priced quotes and sales orders from your own catalogue and supplier prices.

See Quote Desk

Invoice Capture

Reads supplier invoices from a photo or PDF and checks them against the order before they reach your accounts.

See Invoice Capture

Meet us at IMPA Singapore

Stand SUZ 4, Suntec, 24 to 25 November 2026. Bring an RFQ and see it priced.

Plan your visit

Port of Rotterdam at sunset — Photo: rick ligthelm (CC BY 2.0)

Rotterdam and its port

Europe's largest port, stretching from the city centre to reclaimed land in the North Sea

Rotterdam is Europe's largest port, running from the city along the river to Maasvlakte on reclaimed land in the North Sea. It handles containers, crude oil, refined products, chemicals, dry bulk and liquefied gas, and its refineries and tank farms make it a major energy hub. Barges, pipelines and rail link the port to Germany and the rest of the European interior.

For a ship supplier, Rotterdam is demanding. Ships are large, calls are short and the port is spread over a long distance, so planning deliveries to the right terminal matters. Many requests come in at short notice from managers across Europe and Asia. Competition among local suppliers is strong, and the chandler who prices accurately and quickly, with every line correct, wins the order.

Time zone: CET, UTC+1 (UTC+2 in summer)
Business languages: Dutch and English
Working week: Monday to Friday
TEU a year: 14M+
vessel calls/year: 30,000+

Business culture

Dutch business is direct, punctual and practical. People say what they think, expect the same in return and value clear facts over long introductions. Hierarchies are flat, and decisions are often reached by consensus, then carried out quickly. Dutch and English are both used, and English is standard in shipping. Email is the main channel, with phone for urgent changes. Summer holidays slow July and August.

Port and maritime heritage

Rotterdam received city rights in 1340 and grew as a trading town near the mouths of the Rhine and Maas. The New Waterway, opened in 1872, gave direct access to the sea. The city centre was destroyed by bombing on 14 May 1940 and rebuilt after the war. Europoort followed in the 1960s, and Rotterdam was the world's busiest port from 1962 to 2004.

Local market

Tankers, container ships, gas carriers, chemical tankers, bulk carriers and inland barges all call, along with dredgers and offshore vessels. Buyers include the purchasing departments of major lines and tanker operators as well as smaller owners. They expect exact delivery slots, full compliance with Dutch and EU rules, certificates where needed and invoices that match their purchase orders without corrections.

Working with us from Rotterdam

We begin with a remote 30 minute demo on one of your own RFQs. You can be live in about a week, on your own catalogue and margin rules, with no IT team needed. India is 4.5 hours ahead of Rotterdam in winter and 3.5 in summer, so our working day overlaps yours from 9am to about 2pm, or 3pm in summer.

FAQ

Common questions from Rotterdam ship chandlers

How does Tidal handle MARPOL and compliance line items for Rotterdam chandlers?

Rotterdam chandlers frequently receive RFQs that include MARPOL compliant materials, hazmat items, and flag state specific requirements, especially from chemical tankers and LNG carriers on the North Sea routes. Tidal's your own catalogue matching engine identifies these items and flags any that require special handling based on your configured compliance rules. Substitution rules can be set per item class, if a direct match is unavailable, Tidal routes the item to your team with the flag rather than auto substituting a non compliant alternative. This prevents compliance errors from reaching the quote stage.

Can Tidal process the short sea shipping RFQs common in Rotterdam?

Yes. Short sea shipping vessels operating on North Sea and Channel routes typically have smaller, more frequent RFQs than deep sea vessels, often 20-50 line items arriving multiple times per week from the same operators. Tidal handles these efficiently: the AI recognizes repeat customers, applies their stored pricing tier automatically, and generates quotes for short sea RFQs in minutes rather than hours. The system learns from every order, so frequent customers' catalogues become faster to quote over time as historical pricing data accumulates.

How does Tidal help Rotterdam chandlers compete against larger regional suppliers?

Rotterdam is a highly competitive chandling market with large regional and global suppliers operating alongside independent chandlers. Tidal levels the operational playing field by eliminating the manual RFQ processing bottleneck that gives larger teams an advantage. With Tidal, a 5-person chandling operation can process and respond to RFQs at the same speed as a 20-person team, without proportional cost increase. The Rotterdam case study equivalent: 24/7 automated response to overnight RFQs, zero pricing errors, and $100K+ in annual labor cost recovered per operation. Speed of response is the primary differentiator in Rotterdam's competitive market.

Ship Chandler Software forRotterdam