Technology firm CargoSmart plans to work with one of the leading providers of data to the container shipping industry to develop an index measuring the reliability of ocean carriers.
San Jose, CA-based CargoSmart signed a cooperation agreement with the Shanghai Shipping Exchange to create a shipping index for ocean carrier schedule reliability.
The two entities will work on a methodology “to calculate schedule reliability for key trade lanes to help shippers optimize their supply chains and for the industry as a whole to improve service quality.”
Schedule reliability is a major issue of customers of the ocean carriers, particularly those in the trans-Pacific market. Lars Jensen, chief executive officer of SeaIntelligence Consulting, estimates that only about one-third of vessels on that trade lane arrived on schedule last year.
The Shanghai Shipping Exchange, jointly owned by China’s Ministry of Transport and the city of Shanghai, publishes two widely cited indices for container shipping rates, the China Containerized Freight Index and Shanghai Containerized Freight Index.
Yao Weifu, vice president of Shanghai Shipping Exchange, said the new index “increases transparency to ocean carrier performance.”
“The alliance with CargoSmart allows us to expand the insights we provide for the shipping industry,” Yao said.
CargoSmart, a subsidiary of Hong Kong’s Orient Overseas International Ltd., said it monitors and analyzes more than 16,000 vessels, 1,400 global container terminals, 3,000 ocean carrier services representing 85% of the market and 10 million sailing schedules.
Chief Commercial Officer Lionel Louie said that data reach will enable effective and accurate measurement of ocean carriers’ schedule reliability performance.
“CargoSmart and Shanghai Shipping Exchange share a common desire to improve supply chain efficiency and productivity,” Louis said.
David Tien, Ocean Service Director Global Forwarding Asia at C.H. Robinson (Nasdaq: CHRW), said the new index will provide a “standardized schedule reliability index that we can benchmark to offer more insightful carrier and route recommendations for our customers.”