History of shippping companies

Shipping portals first emerged in 2001 when CargoSmart, GT Nexus and Inttra all launched their trial phases.

CargoSmart, comprised of four member carriers, Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL), Nippon Yusen (NYK), COSCO and MISC Berhad (MISC), was introduced in October 2000 and has five dedicated information technology (IT) development centers located in San Jose, Shanghai, Zhuhai, Manila and Hong Kong. CargoSmart is a global logistics software as a service (SaaS) solution provider, with advanced visibility and exception management, enabling shippers, consignees, and logistics service providers to keep cargo moving and delivered on time. Through online tools and integration services, CargoSmart enables customers to plan, process, and monitor the critical path of multiple-carrier shipments and communicate in-depth, timely information to key supply chain associates.[1]

GT Nexus helps importers, exporters, logistics providers and banks manage the flow of inventory and information related to global trade. All capabilities are delivered on-demand, over the Web. Not just a leading provider of supply chain software, GT Nexus provides the global infrastructure and managed IT services to power the supply chains of the most successful Fortune 500 companies and service providers in the world. They provide state-of-the-art trade and logistics software as a service, over the Web, on a pay-as-you-go basis.[2]

Inttra is a carrier-owned and funded portal, with CMA CGM, Hamburg Süd, Hapag-Lloyd, A. P. Moller-Maersk Group (Maersk), Mediterranean Shipping Company S.A. (MSC) and United Arab Shipping Company (UASC) all represented on the board. Inttra claims its carrier members account for 60% of global shipping capacity. In 2005-2006 new carriers CP Ships, K Line, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), and MISC all signed up to join. Inttra is a leading global provider of e-commerce solutions to ocean carriers and their customers, working with customers to streamline and standardize their shipping processes, applying their e-commerce knowledge of the shipping industry for customers in markets worldwide. Their e-commerce platform offers a comprehensive range of e-commerce tools, including: tender, sailing schedules, booking, shipping instructions, bill of lading, tracking and tracing, and reports.[3]

[edit] Portal members

Membership across the three main shipping portals comprises 30 carriers of varying sizes, but the majority are amongst the world's largest, so most of the industry's TEU capacity is represented.
Carrier [4] TEU CargoSmart GT Nexus Inttra
Maersk / Safmarine / MCC Transport Singapore 2,005,000 Y
Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) 1,521,000 Y
CMA CGM / Australian National Lines (ANL) 976,000 Y
China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO) 497,000 Y
Hapag-Lloyd 488,000 Y
American President Lines (APL) 470,000 Y
China Shipping Container Lines (CSCL) 455,000 Y
Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) 420,000 Y Y Y
Hanjin / Senator Line 382,000 Y Y Y
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) 380,000 Y Y Y
Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) 356,000 Y
Hamburg Süd / Aliança 318,000 Y
K Line 316,000 Y Y
Yang Ming Line 311,000 Y Y
CSAV / Libra 299,000 Y
Zim Line / Gold Star Line 277,000 Y
Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) 265,000 Y
United Arab Shipping Company (UASC) 150,000 Y
Wan Hai Lines 123,000 Y
MISC Berhad 98,000 Y Y
Emirates Shipping Line 25,000 Y
Crowley Maritime 19,000 Y
Deutsche Afrika Linien (DAL) 11,000 Y

[edit] Shipping schedules

One of the main drawbacks of the portals is that none of them can access all shipping lines. With an estimated 250 container shipping lines world-wide, many carriers are left out. Though, since the process of shipping always begins by choosing a voyage and then selecting a carrier, some shipping schedule search engines have emerged to help shippers and forwarders find which carriers sail on which routes and when.

Most notably is Linescape[5] which hosts the sailing schedules of more than 100 container lines. Based in Burlingame, California, the independently owned Linescape uses advanced web technologies to bring real-time carrier schedules to users. Its novel route-search function allows users to input origin and destination countries and then quickly find all port-to-port permutations sorted by duration. With these results, users can quickly find the routes and schedules they are looking for and immediately click-through to any carrier's website to initiate the shipping process.[6]

[edit] See also

* Container terminal
* Containerization
* Intermodal container
* List of busiest container ports
* List of ship companies
* Merchant vessel

[edit] References

1. ^ CargoSmart shipping portal
2. ^ GT Nexus shipping portal
3. ^ Inttra shipping portal
4. ^ AXS Marine Top 100 Container Lines
5. ^ Linescape - Shipping Schedules Search Engine
6. ^ Linescape Launches a Free and Independent Ocean Container Schedule Search Engine

[edit] External links

* CargoSmart, a shipping portal
* GT Nexus, a shipping portal
* Inttra, a shipping portal
* Linescape, a search engine for ocean container shipping schedules
* Euro-Maritime, a shipping directory
* SeaRates, a shipping directory
* LOG-NET, a logistics software provider and portal to all carriers