Shipping portals are websites which allow shippers, consignees and forwarders access to multiple carriers through a single site. Portals provide bookings, track and trace, and documentation, 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.
History Shipping portals first emerged in 2000-2001 when CargoSmart, GT Nexus and INTTRA Inc. all launched their trial phases.
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.
CarrierAXS Marine Top 100 Container Lines TEU CargoSmart GT Nexus INTTRA Inc. Maersk / Safmarine / MCC Transport Singapore 2,005,000 Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) 1,521,000 CMA CGM / Australian National Line (ANL) 976,000 China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO) 497,000 Hapag-Lloyd 488,000 American President Lines (APL) 470,000 China Shipping Container Lines (CSCL) 455,000 Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) 420,000 Hanjin / Senator Line 382,000 Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) 380,000 Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) 356,000 Hamburg Süd / Aliança 318,000 K Line 316,000 Yang Ming Line 311,000 CSAV / Libra 299,000 Zim Line 277,000 Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) 265,000 United Arab Shipping Company (UASC) 150,000 Wan Hai Lines 123,000 Emirates Shipping Line 25,000 Crowley Maritime 19,000 Deutsche Afrika-Linien (DAL) 11,000
Sailing schedule search engines No portals can access all shipping lines. With around 250 container shipping lines world-wide, many carriers are left out. Sailing schedule search engines have emerged to allow users to find an appropriate service.
See also Container terminal Containerization Intermodal container List of busiest container ports List of ship companies Merchant vessel List of container shipping companies by ship fleets and containers
References