Emirates joins INTTRA

Emirates joins INTTRA    Emirates Shipping Line has joined the ocean freight Web portal INTTRA, the two companies said Monday.
   The addition of Emirates, which began operations in May 2006, brings the total number of INTTRA member carriers to 23.
   Not long after Emirates began its first service, it started negotiations to join INTTRA’s network of carriers, said Vikas M. Khan, Emirates' chairman and chief executive officer.
   “It is our mission to keep abreast of the needs of our customer base and provide our network with the highest standard of technological solutions,' Khan said in a statement. 'INTTRA provides us with the best solution in terms of data exchange with our ERP (enterprise resource planning) system. Also, INTTRA is supported by a cross section of the industry and has a long-term vision to support industry standards through a common platform.'
   In March, Khan told American Shipper that though he saw integration into one of the primary ocean freight Web portals as key to Emirates' development, none of the major portals provided the depth of information Emirates ultimately plans to offer its shipper customers.
   'We have 60 fields of information we want to provide,' he said.