A method of optimizing the scheduling of ships entering and leaving a harbor, the method comprising the steps of: a. Combining information from an automated identification system about each ship with scheduling information about each ship from a dispatching system to produce a combined ship ID/schedule for each ship; b. Tracking the latitude and longitude of each ship using GPS to produce tracked latitude and longitude of each ship; c. Comparing the tracked latitude and longitude of each ship to existing maps of the harbor; and d. Continually comparing the ID/schedule for each ship with the tracked latitude and longitude of each ship. The alerts are sent whenever the tracked latitude and longitude of each ship does not match the expected latitude and longitude of each ship at a given time. The method tracks and records whenever a pilot embarks or disembarks from a ship.