Shipping portal
Encyclopedia
Shipping portals are web-based communities which allow shippers, consignees and forwarders access to multiple carriers through a single site and concentrate on providing bookings, track and trace, documentation functions, and allow users to communicate with their carriers. In many respects, a shipping
portal is to the maritime industry what a global distribution system
(GDS) is to the airline
industry.
and Inttra all launched their trial phases.
CargoSmart was launched in October 2000 and has four offices located in Hong Kong
, the United States
, China
, and the United Kingdom
. CargoSmart is a global logistics software as a service
(SaaS) solution provider, with advanced visibility and exception management.
GT Nexus provides trade and logistics software as a service, over the Web, on a pay-as-you-go basis.
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. 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.
capacity is represented.
s. With an estimated 250 container ship
ping 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 sailing schedule search engines have emerged to help shippers and forwarders find which carriers sail on which routes and when.
Linescape hosts the mosts schedules, from 120 carriers, followed by OceanSchedules and CargoSmart. Linescape's 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. OceanSchedules and CargoSmart both offer a private-label search interface which can be placed on third party websites. In 2011, all three search engines started to offer data feeds of schedule data which shippers and forwarders can integrate into their Transportation Management System
, to increase efficiencies and reduce the costs associated with searching schedules.
Shipping
Shipping has multiple meanings. It can be a physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo, by land, air, and sea. It also can describe the movement of objects by ship.Land or "ground" shipping can be by train or by truck...
portal is to the maritime industry what a global distribution system
Computer reservations system
A computer reservations system is a computerized system used to store and retrieve information and conduct transactions related to air travel. Originally designed and operated by airlines, CRSes were later extended for the use of travel agencies...
(GDS) is to the airline
Airline
An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...
industry.
History
Shipping portals first emerged in 2001 when CargoSmart, GT NexusGT Nexus
GT Nexus runs an on-demand global trade & logistics portal that is used by organizations to manage global logistics and trade processes. Customers include Xerox, American Eagle Outfitters, Procter & Gamble, Del Monte Foods and The Home Depot...
and Inttra all launched their trial phases.
CargoSmart was launched in October 2000 and has four offices located in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. CargoSmart is a global logistics software as a service
Software as a Service
Software as a service , sometimes referred to as "on-demand software," is a software delivery model in which software and its associated data are hosted centrally and are typically accessed by users using a thin client, normally using a web browser over the Internet.SaaS has become a common...
(SaaS) solution provider, with advanced visibility and exception management.
GT Nexus provides trade and logistics software as a service, over the Web, on a pay-as-you-go basis.
Inttra is a carrier-owned and funded portal, with CMA CGM
CMA CGM
CMA CGM S.A. is a French container transportation and shipping company, headed by Jacques Saadé. It is the third largest container company in the world, using 200 shipping routes between 400 ports in 150 different countries...
, Hamburg Süd
Hamburg Süd
Hamburg Süd is one of the key carriers on the North-South trade routes by ocean transportation. It is part of the Oetker Group, a family-owned German conglomerate.-History:...
, Hapag-Lloyd
Hapag-Lloyd
Hapag-Lloyd is a German transportation company comprising a cargo container shipping line, Hapag-Lloyd AG, which in turn owns other subsidiaries such as Hapag-Lloyd Ships and a cruise line, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises which is now integrated into TUI AG, Hanover...
, A. P. Moller-Maersk Group (Maersk), Mediterranean Shipping Company S.A.
Mediterranean Shipping Company S.A.
Mediterranean Shipping Company S.A. is the world's largest shipping line in terms of container vessel capacity. MSC operates 469 vessels and has a capacity of...
(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
CP Ships
CP Ships was a large Canadian container shipping company, prior to being taken over by Hapag Lloyd in late 2005. CP Ships had its head office in the City of Westminster in London and later in the City Place Gatwick development on the property of London Gatwick Airport in Crawley, West Sussex.The...
, K Line
K Line
, also referred to as "K" Line, is a very large Japanese shipping company. It owns and/or controls large cargo ships, including dry cargo ships, container ships, container terminals, gas carriers, RoRo ships and tankers....
, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines
is a Japanese transport company headquartered in Toranomon, Minato, Tokyo. The company's main area of operations is international shipping. Its alligator logo can be seen on containers in ports around the world....
(MOL), and MISC all signed up to join. Inttra is a leading global provider of e-commerce solutions to ocean carriers and their customers. Their e-commerce platform offers a comprehensive range of e-commerce tools, including: tender, sailing schedules, booking, shipping instructions, bill of lading
Bill of lading
A bill of lading is a document issued by a carrier to a shipper, acknowledging that specified goods have been received on board as cargo for conveyance to a named place for delivery to the consignee who is usually identified...
, tracking and tracing, and reports.
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 TEUTwenty-foot equivalent unit
The twenty-foot equivalent unit is an inexact unit of cargo capacity often used to describe the capacity of container ships and container terminals...
capacity is represented.
| Carrier | TEU Twenty-foot equivalent unit The twenty-foot equivalent unit is an inexact unit of cargo capacity often used to describe the capacity of container ships and container terminals... |
CargoSmart | GT Nexus GT Nexus GT Nexus runs an on-demand global trade & logistics portal that is used by organizations to manage global logistics and trade processes. Customers include Xerox, American Eagle Outfitters, Procter & Gamble, Del Monte Foods and The Home Depot... |
Inttra |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maersk / Safmarine Safmarine Safmarine is an international shipping business offering container and break-bulk shipping services worldwide.... / MCC Transport Singapore |
2,005,000 | |||
| Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) Mediterranean Shipping Company S.A. Mediterranean Shipping Company S.A. is the world's largest shipping line in terms of container vessel capacity. MSC operates 469 vessels and has a capacity of... |
1,521,000 | |||
| CMA CGM CMA CGM CMA CGM S.A. is a French container transportation and shipping company, headed by Jacques Saadé. It is the third largest container company in the world, using 200 shipping routes between 400 ports in 150 different countries... / Australian National Lines (ANL) Australian National Lines The Australian National Line was an Australian Government owned overseas and coastal shipping line that operated in Australia between 1956 and 1998, when the container shipping operations and naming rights were bought by French shipping line CMA CGM.... |
976,000 | |||
| China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO) COSCO China Ocean Shipping Company, known as COSCO or COSCO Group, is one of the largest liner shipping companies worldwide. It is a government owned company of the People's Republic of China... |
497,000 | |||
| Hapag-Lloyd Hapag-Lloyd Hapag-Lloyd is a German transportation company comprising a cargo container shipping line, Hapag-Lloyd AG, which in turn owns other subsidiaries such as Hapag-Lloyd Ships and a cruise line, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises which is now integrated into TUI AG, Hanover... |
488,000 | |||
| American President Lines (APL) American President Lines American President Lines Ltd. is the world's seventh-largest container transportation and shipping company, providing services to more than 140 countries through a network combining intermodal freight transport operations with IT and e-commerce... |
470,000 | |||
| China Shipping Container Lines (CSCL) China Shipping Container Lines China Shipping Container Lines , a division of China Shipping Group , is a containerized marine shipping company, based in Shanghai, China.... |
455,000 | |||
| Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) Nippon Yusen Japan-based or NYK Line, is one of the largest shipping companies in the world. It is a core Mitsubishi company. The company has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo.-1870-1900:... |
420,000 | |||
| Hanjin Hanjin The Hanjin Group is a South Korean conglomerate, or Jaebeol. The group is a holding company that includes a shipping company, Hanjin Shipping , and Korean Air , which was acquired in 1969... / Senator Line |
382,000 | |||
| Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) Mitsui O.S.K. Lines is a Japanese transport company headquartered in Toranomon, Minato, Tokyo. The company's main area of operations is international shipping. Its alligator logo can be seen on containers in ports around the world.... |
380,000 | |||
| Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) Orient Overseas Container Line Orient Overseas Container Line is a Hong Kong-based container shipping and logistics service company.OOCL is one of the world's largest shipping and logistics companies with more than 280 offices in 55 countries around the world, providing 78 services covering international trading markets with a... |
356,000 | |||
| Hamburg Süd Hamburg Süd Hamburg Süd is one of the key carriers on the North-South trade routes by ocean transportation. It is part of the Oetker Group, a family-owned German conglomerate.-History:... / Aliança Aliança Aliança is a city located in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil. Located at 82 km away from Recife, capital of the state of Pernambuco... |
318,000 | |||
| K Line K Line , also referred to as "K" Line, is a very large Japanese shipping company. It owns and/or controls large cargo ships, including dry cargo ships, container ships, container terminals, gas carriers, RoRo ships and tankers.... |
316,000 | |||
| Yang Ming Line | 311,000 | |||
| CSAV CSAV CSAV is a Chilean shipping company that is currently the largest company of its type in Latin America and is one of the oldest shipping companies, having being founded in 1872... / Libra |
299,000 | |||
| Zim Line Zim Integrated Shipping Services Zim Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. , formerly ZIM Israel Navigation Company Ltd. and Zim American Israeli Shipping Inc., is the biggest cargo shipping company in Israel, and 10th largest in the world... / Gold Star Line |
277,000 | |||
| Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) Hyundai Hyundai ) is a global conglomerate company, part of the Korean chaebol, that was founded in South Korea by one of the most famous businessmen in Korean history: Chung Ju-yung... |
265,000 | |||
| United Arab Shipping Company (UASC) | 150,000 | |||
| Wan Hai Lines Wan Hai Lines Wan Hai Lines was founded in 1965 in Taiwan as a shipping company. At the beginning, Wan Hai's business was mainly on the log transportation among Taiwan, Japan and the Southeast Asia... |
123,000 | |||
| MISC Berhad MISC Berhad MISC Berhad was incorporated in 1968 as Malaysia International Shipping Corporation Berhad and is the leading international shipping line of Malaysia. In September 2005 Malaysia International Shipping Corporation Berhad adopted its present corporate identity and changed its name to MISC Berhad... |
98,000 | |||
| Emirates Shipping Line | 25,000 | |||
| Crowley Maritime Crowley Maritime Crowley Maritime Corporation, based in Jacksonville, Florida, and founded in 1892, is primarily a family and employee-owned company that provides transportation and logistics services in U.S... |
19,000 | |||
| Deutsche Afrika Linien (DAL) | 11,000 | |||
Sailing schedules
One of the main drawbacks of the portals is that none of them can access all shipping lineShipping line
-History of shipping lines:Large-scale shipping lines became widespread in the nineteenth century, after the development of the steamship in 1783. At first, Great Britain was the centr of development; in 1819, the first steamship crossing of the Atlantic Ocean took place and by 1833, shipping lines...
s. With an estimated 250 container ship
Container ship
Container ships are cargo ships that carry all of their load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. They form a common means of commercial intermodal freight transport.-History:...
ping 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 sailing schedule search engines have emerged to help shippers and forwarders find which carriers sail on which routes and when.
| Search Engine | # of Carriers | Schedule Search | Route Search | Private Label Search | Data Feeds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linescape | 120 | ||||
| OceanSchedules | 30 | ||||
| CargoSmart | 10 | ||||
Linescape hosts the mosts schedules, from 120 carriers, followed by OceanSchedules and CargoSmart. Linescape's 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. OceanSchedules and CargoSmart both offer a private-label search interface which can be placed on third party websites. In 2011, all three search engines started to offer data feeds of schedule data which shippers and forwarders can integrate into their Transportation Management System
Transportation management system
A transportation management system is a subset of supply chain management concerning transportation operations and may be part of an enterprise resource planning system....
, to increase efficiencies and reduce the costs associated with searching schedules.
See also
- Container terminalContainer terminalA container terminal is a facility where cargo containers are transshipped between different transport vehicles, for onward transportation. The transshipment may be between container ships and land vehicles, for example trains or trucks, in which case the terminal is described as a maritime...
- ContainerizationContainerizationContainerization is a system of freight transport based on a range of steel intermodal containers...
- Intermodal containerIntermodal containerAn intermodal container is a standardized reusable steel box used for the safe, efficient and secure storage and movement of materials and products within a global containerized intermodal freight transport system...
- List of busiest container ports
- List of ship companies
- Merchant vesselMerchant vesselA merchant vessel is a ship that transports cargo or passengers. The closely related term commercial vessel is defined by the United States Coast Guard as any vessel engaged in commercial trade or that carries passengers for hire...
External links
- OceanAudit. Ocean Freight Audit Service Provider
- Bunker IQ - Mobile access to the Bunkering industry. Mobile shipping portal.
- 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
- Shipping Platform, a b2b shipping portal
- ShipbrokerPortal.com, an online resource for shipbrokers