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EDIFACT message guide · Transport

TANSTA Tank status report

The UN/EDIFACT message exchanged between a vessel and the ship planning department with the contents of ballast, fuel, water and other tanks.

Sent by
Vessel or shipping line's ship planning department
Received by
Ship planning department or vessel
Standard
UN/EDIFACT · Batch message
X12 equivalent
No direct equivalent

What is the EDIFACT TANSTA message?

TANSTA is the UN/EDIFACT tank status report. The directory defines it as a message from a vessel to the ship planning department of a shipping line, or the reverse, for example via satellite, giving details of the contents of ballast tanks, fuel tanks, water tanks and other figures needed to calculate the vessel's stability.

Stowage planners need the weight in each tank to calculate stability and stress before deciding how to load containers at the next port. The tank report gives them current figures from the ship.

How the EDIFACT TANSTA message worksDiagram of the UN/EDIFACT TANSTA Tank status report message. Vessel or shipping line's ship planning department sends it to ship planning department or vessel. It usually starts the exchange. It is usually followed by MOVINS. Inside the UNB and UNH envelopes, the directory D.21A requires, in the start of message: BGM (Beginning of message) and DTM (Date/time/period) and body and segment groups: the required SG2 loop with TDT (Transport information), LOC (Place/location identification) and DTM (Date/time/period). 2 conditional segment groups are listed by their trigger segment.How the EDIFACT TANSTA message worksTank status report: who sends it, where it fits and what the directory marks mandatory1 WHERE IT FITSUSUALLY FOLLOWSStarts the exchangeTANSTASENDERVessel or shippingline's ship planningdepartmentRECEIVERShip planningdepartment or vesselCONTRL syntax report back, if agreedUSUALLY FOLLOWED BYMOVINSStowage instruction2 WHAT DIRECTORY D.21A REQUIRESInterchange: sender and recipient IDsUNB … UNZMessage TANSTAUNH … UNTSTART OF MESSAGEBGMBeginning of messageDTMDate/time/periodBODY AND SEGMENT GROUPSMandatory group SG2 · repeats up to 9TDTTransport informationLOCPlace/location identificationDTMDate/time/period+ 2 conditional groups, starting with:RFFLOCBlue box: mandatory segment group. Conditional groups are listed by the trigger segment that starts them; a group is sent only when its data applies.Conditional segments outside groups are not drawn.Structure: mandatory segments and groups in the UN/EDIFACT directory D.21A listing for TANSTA. Your trading partner's implementation guide adds itsown requirements.
How the EDIFACT TANSTA message worksDiagram of the UN/EDIFACT TANSTA Tank status report message. Vessel or shipping line's ship planning department sends it to ship planning department or vessel. It usually starts the exchange. It is usually followed by MOVINS. Inside the UNB and UNH envelopes, the directory D.21A requires, in the start of message: BGM (Beginning of message) and DTM (Date/time/period) and body and segment groups: the required SG2 loop with TDT (Transport information), LOC (Place/location identification) and DTM (Date/time/period). 2 conditional segment groups are listed by their trigger segment.How the EDIFACT TANSTAmessage worksTank status report: who sends it, where it fitsand what the directory marks mandatory1 WHERE IT FITSUSUALLY FOLLOWSStarts the exchangeTANSTASENDERVessel orshipping line'sship planningdepartmentRECEIVERShip planningdepartment orvesselCONTRL syntax report back, if agreedUSUALLY FOLLOWED BYMOVINSStowage instruction2 WHAT DIRECTORY D.21A REQUIRESInterchange: sender and recipient IDs(UNB … UNZ)Message TANSTA (UNH … UNT)START OF MESSAGEBGMBeginning of messageDTMDate/time/periodBODY AND SEGMENT GROUPSMandatory group SG2 · repeats upto 9TDTTransport informationLOCPlace/location identificationDTMDate/time/period+ 2 conditional groups, starting with:RFFLOCBlue box: mandatory segment group. Conditionalgroups are listed by the trigger segment thatstarts them; a group is sent only when its dataapplies. Conditional segments outside groups arenot drawn.Structure: mandatory segments and groups in theUN/EDIFACT directory D.21A listing for TANSTA.Your trading partner's implementation guide adds itsown requirements.

How to read this diagram: the top row shows who sends TANSTA, to whom, and which messages usually come before and after it. The lower part shows what the directory D.21A itself requires: the envelopes around TANSTA and the segments and segment groups it marks mandatory. Conditional groups are listed by their trigger segment rather than drawn in full. This is the directory's minimum, not a trading partner's requirement: a message implementation guide, such as an industry subset or a partner’s own guide, usually makes some conditional groups mandatory, restricts the codes and may use an older directory.

Expand diagram Download SVG

When it is used

  • Reporting tank contents before arrival at a port
  • Supporting stability and stress calculations
  • Planning ballast operations with the stowage plan

Where it fits in the message flow

This message TANSTA Tank status report
Usually followed by MOVINS Stowage instruction

Structure

Mandatory segments in TANSTA (directory D.21A)

In UN/EDIFACT directory D.21A, the TANSTA message has 16 segment positions arranged in 3 segment groups. These are the segments and segment groups marked mandatory at message level, in order; a mandatory group is shown with the segment that starts it. Segments inside conditional groups are needed only when the group is used. This is the directory’s requirement, not your trading partner’s: each partner’s message implementation guide names the directory it uses, often an older one such as D.96A or D.01B where the structure can differ, makes some conditional segments mandatory and restricts the codes.

  • UNH
  • BGM
  • DTM
  • SG2 (TDT)
  • UNT

Practical example

TANSTA in practice

A container vessel approaches its next port. The chief officer sends the line's ship planning department a TANSTA with the current contents of every ballast, fuel and fresh water tank. The planners combine it with the bayplan to calculate stability, then send the terminal stowage instructions with MOVINS.

Implementation

Implementation considerations for TANSTA

  • Send current figures shortly before planning starts.
  • Use tank identifiers consistent with the vessel's stability model.
  • Allow for limited bandwidth on ship-to-shore links.
  • Validate figures against tank capacities.

How ECOM helps

Automate TANSTA with ECOM

Industry

Trucking and Transportation

Load tenders, responses, status and freight invoices for carriers, brokers and shippers, integrated with the TMS.

Solution

Logistics Automation

Automate tenders, status updates, freight invoices and warehouse orders with logistics partners.

Solution

EDI Integration

Exchange X12 and EDIFACT documents with partners and integrate them directly with your ERP.

Compare X12 and EDIFACT, or see answers to general questions in the EDI FAQ.

Related messages

Related transport messages

All 36 transport messages

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