DCSA Reference Documentation / Standards / Standard Releases / Operational Vessel Schedules / Archive / Operational Vessel Schedules v3.0.1

DCSA OVS 3.0.1 - User Stories

Archived release: Operational Vessel Schedules v3.0.1 has been superseded. View the current v3 documentation.

This page is published as part of the complete documentation set for this version. User stories have been reformatted to align with other standards; their intent and meaning remain unchanged.

Contents

Introduction

In line with the techniques used in software development, DCSA has incorporated user stories and use cases into the standards development process to support the digitalization efforts of the shipping industry. Both user stories and use cases serve the purpose of capturing and documenting requirements, but they differ in granularity, level of detail, and the stages of the development process in which they are most prominently used. They are complementary (a user story may be supported by one or more use cases and vice versa) and can be used together to provide a comprehensive understanding of software requirements. In this section we will focus on user stories.

User stories are typically concise, informal descriptions of a feature or functionality written from an end user’s or stakeholder’s perspective. They express the needs, goals, and expectations of users in a way that is easily understandable to ensure the delivered product meets the intended requirements. In standards development, this translates to creating testable acceptance criteria to validate that the standard is correctly implemented and achieves its intended purpose.

Definitions

The DCSA Operational Vessel Schedules standard defines in a unified way the exchange of operational vessel schedule information between relevant business parties defined below as “actors”.

Actors

The Operational Vessel Schedules standard defines the exchange of operational vessel schedule information between business entities with the following generic roles.

Operational Vessel Schedules Producers

Operational Vessel Schedules Producers are business entities that make operational vessel schedule information available to be retrieved by other parties.

The following categories represent typical types of entities that can act as Operational Vessel Schedules Producers within the context of the Operational Vessel Schedules standard. Note that the list is indicative rather than exhaustive.

  • Carrier
  • Vessel operator
  • A party acting on behalf of the carrier or vessel operator

Operational Vessel Schedules Consumers

Operational Vessel Schedules Consumers are business entities that retrieve operational vessel schedule information relevant to their operational planning activities.

The following categories represent typical types of entities that can act as Operational Vessel Schedules Consumers within the context of the Operational Vessel Schedules standard. Note that the list is indicative rather than exhaustive.

  • Shared service partner
  • Port terminal
  • Operational third party
  • Feeder operator
  • Barge operator
  • Solution provider
  • A party acting on behalf of any party above

User Stories

This section documents the user stories that DCSA has considered as the basis for developing the Operational Vessel Schedules standard, as well as the mapping to the use cases that implement them. The use cases are defined in a separate IFS section.

US1: Retrieving service schedules

As an Operational Vessel Schedules Consumer, I want to retrieve from the Operational Vessel Schedules Producer the latest operational vessel schedule for a specific service, so that I can stay up to date about service-related schedules and plan my activities using a standardised format.

Original user stories

  • As a vessel operator, I want to share with my operational partner all the full voyages belonging to a specific service with all the details of the port calls, including planned time of arrival/departure (PTA/PTD), and estimated time of arrival/departure (ETA/ETD), actual time of arrival/departure (ATA/ATD), once available, so that my operational partners are kept up to date about specific services, vessels, voyages, or port/terminal-related schedules and can plan their activities, using a standardised format.
  • Original related change story: As a vessel operator, I want to, upon changes, share with my operational partner all the full voyages belonging to a specific joint service with all the details of the port calls, including PTA/PTD, ETA/ETD, ATA/ATD, once available.

This user story is implemented by the following use cases:

  • UC1: Retrieving Operational Vessel Schedules

US2: Retrieving voyage schedules

As an Operational Vessel Schedules Consumer, I want to retrieve from the Operational Vessel Schedules Producer the latest operational vessel schedule for a specific voyage, so that I can stay up to date about voyage-related schedules and plan my activities using a standardised format.

Original user stories

  • As a vessel operator, I want to share with my operational partner full voyage-specific related information with all the details of the port calls, including PTA/PTD, ETA/ETD, ATA/ATD, once available.
  • As a vessel operator, I want to share with my operational partner a full voyage and its port call details when there are changes.

This user story is implemented by the following use cases:

  • UC1: Retrieving Operational Vessel Schedules

US3: Retrieving vessel schedules

As an Operational Vessel Schedules Consumer, I want to retrieve from the Operational Vessel Schedules Producer the latest operational vessel schedule for a specific vessel and period, so that I can stay up to date about vessel-related schedules and plan my activities using a standardised format.

Original user stories

  • As a vessel operator, I want to share full voyages and port calls details that include a specific vessel for a specific period, including PTA/PTD, ETA/ETD, ATA/ATD, once available.
  • As a vessel operator, I want to share full voyages and port calls details that include a specific vessel for a specific period when there are changes.

This user story is implemented by the following use cases:

  • UC1: Retrieving Operational Vessel Schedules

US4: Retrieving port or terminal schedules

As an Operational Vessel Schedules Consumer, I want to retrieve from the Operational Vessel Schedules Producer the latest operational vessel schedule for voyages calling at a specific port or terminal, so that I can stay up to date about port or terminal-related schedules and plan my activities using a standardised format.

Original user stories

  • As a vessel operator, I want to share the full voyage and port call details for voyages calling at a specific port/terminal.
  • As a vessel operator, I want to share the full voyage and port call details for voyages calling at a specific port/terminal when there are changes.

This user story is implemented by the following use cases:

  • UC1: Retrieving Operational Vessel Schedules