Terms of Use

Maritime & River Ports Intel by Portvolution — portvolution.com

Effective date: September 27, 2026 Version: 2026.09.27_web_v1 Contact: support@portvolution.com

1. About these terms

These Terms of Use ("Terms") apply to your use of the website portvolution.com ("the website"), operated by Marius Mocanu, an individual based in Romania ("we", "us"). By using the website you agree to these Terms. If you create an account or publish content, you also confirm that you are 18 years of age or older.

Browsing port pages does not require an account. Portvolution accounts are shared with the Portvolution mobile app; your use of the app is governed by the app's own Terms & Conditions, available inside the app. How we handle personal data is explained in our Privacy Policy.

2. Your account

You are responsible for keeping your login details confidential and for the activity under your account. Tell us immediately at support@portvolution.com if you suspect unauthorised use. You must provide a valid email address, and you must not create accounts automatically, impersonate someone else or choose a nickname that is offensive or misleading.

3. Port information is not navigational or official guidance

The website is an informational resource. It is not an Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS) or an official maritime navigation, safety or regulatory source.

Port ratings, reviews, "Community Pulse" summaries, coordinates, maps and other information on the website come from seafarers' own reports, automated summaries and third-party sources. They may be incomplete, outdated or wrong, and must never be relied upon for navigation, pilotage, safety or operational decisions. Always consult official charts, port authorities, your employer or shipowner, your port agent and official maritime security advisories.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, we are not liable for any direct or indirect damage — including delays, losses, fines or operational incidents — resulting from reliance on information shown on the website.

4. AI-generated content ("Botvolution Guide")

Some port pages include a Botvolution Guide — an overview, logistics tips, welfare information and status indicators — generated by an AI model (Google Gemini) with web search, and published periodically by us. It is not written by users and is not independently verified against official sources.

AI systems make mistakes. Botvolution content may be inaccurate or out of date, especially for fast-changing matters such as security conditions, port regulations or shore leave rules. It is general information only, not official, legal, operational or company guidance, and must not replace official sources. We disclaim liability for decisions made in reliance on it.

5. Content you publish

When you publish a port review or rating ("insight"), you keep ownership of it. You grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, store, display, reproduce, translate, summarise and publish that content on the website and in the Portvolution app, including in aggregated ratings and automated summaries, for as long as the content remains on the service. As described in the Privacy Policy, reviews remain available — without your nickname — after you delete your account.

You confirm that your content reflects your own genuine experience and that you have the right to publish it.

6. Community guidelines and moderation

You must not publish content that is, or that a reasonable person would recognise as:

Spam — promotional or commercial content unrelated to port conditions, irrelevant links or repeated gibberish;
Hate speech — discrimination or slurs based on nationality, race, religion or similar characteristics;
Threats or intimidation;
Sexual content;
Harassment — targeted insults, demeaning language, or unverified serious accusations (such as corruption, theft or fraud) against an identifiable person, role or company;
Illegal activity — content that facilitates or encourages illegal acts, including soliciting paid sexual or escort services;
Profanity directed at a person;
Personal data of other people, such as names, phone numbers or photos of identifiable individuals.

How this is enforced: submitted content is screened automatically (spam filters and an AI moderation model). The first three reviews from an account created on the website are reviewed by a person before publication. Reported content is reviewed by the administrator. Content that breaks these rules may be hidden, and repeated or serious violations may lead to restrictions on posting or to suspension or termination of the account.

Reporting content: to report illegal or rule-breaking content, email support@portvolution.com (our point of contact for content notices) or use the reporting feature in the app.

7. Acceptable use

You must not:

attempt to gain unauthorised access to accounts, data or systems, bypass security controls or interfere with the website's operation;
use bots or scripts to create accounts, submit content or circumvent bot checks and rate limits;
extract data from the website in bulk in a way that places an unreasonable load on it, or resell it — normal indexing by search engines and AI search tools is welcome;
publish false or misleading reviews, including reviews for ports you have not experienced or reviews written to promote or damage a business;
use the website for any unlawful purpose.

8. Intellectual property

The website's design, code, branding and compiled data (including aggregated ratings and summaries) belong to us or our licensors. Map data is © OpenStreetMap contributors. Except for normal browsing, sharing links and quoting reasonable excerpts with attribution, you may not copy or republish the website's content without permission.

9. Suspension and termination

We may suspend or terminate access to an account, or remove content, if these Terms are breached, if the account is used for abuse or attacks, or where required by law. You can stop using the website and request deletion of your account at any time (see the Privacy Policy).

10. Availability and changes

We provide the website "as is" and may change, suspend or discontinue features at any time. We may update these Terms; the version and effective date above show the current version, and significant changes will be announced on the website or by email to account holders. Continuing to use the website after a change means you accept the updated Terms.

11. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of Romania and applicable European Union law. This does not take away any mandatory protection you have as a consumer under the law of the country where you live. We encourage you to contact us first at support@portvolution.com so we can try to resolve any issue amicably.