Tracking hazardous cargo misdeclarations in real time
Cargo misdeclaration is nothing new to shipping and has been continuing for years especially in containerised shipments for various reasons..
Apart from the loss of millions of dollars worth of goods and assets, such misdeclarations also result in maritime disasters which have a huge impact on the environment and the loss of life (human or otherwise)..
There are enough examples of the consequences due to misdeclarations both in misdeclaration in weight and/or misdeclaration of hazardous content..
To tackle the scourge of weight misdeclaration, IMO and other stakeholders imposed the requirement of SOLAS VGM which came into effect in July 2016..
While life after SOLAS VGM seems to be hunky-dory and no major incidents have directly attributed to weight misdeclarations, hazardous cargo misdeclaration still seems to be rampant and several shipping lines are “gatvol” of these misdeclarations and have imposed severe financial penalties on the defaulters..
ZIM recently developed and implemented an innovative AI-based screening software to detect and identify incidents of misdeclared hazardous cargo before loading to vessel..
Haven Launches Freight Invoice Audit Platform to Enable Ocean Freight Cost Savings in Aftermath of COVID-19
Market studies show that 25-30% of all freight invoices issued are erroneous. In a $350 billion ocean freight market, this accrued revenue loss can be quite significant.
Businesses that have been overpaying service providers for years due to incorrect invoices now have a solution in the form of Haven’s automated Freight Invoice Audit Platform.
Product Review : CargoX Platform – secure, trusted, instant transfer for trade documents
The world of shipping involves several commercial, documentary, operational and financial processes..
While there have been many developments in the industry, a lot of the documentary processes in shipping and freight has stayed much the same for many decades..
Delays in document transmissions which could take anywhere between 5-10 days with the added risk of loss or delay of documents have severe consequences such as demurrage, detention and/or port storage, possible loss or cargo damage due to non-clearance and abandoned cargo..
CarogX Platform, a neutral, public blockchain-based platform is offering to provide a solution which will help to digitalize the trade documentation process using BDT (Blockchain Document Transfer) and reduce document transmission time to 20 seconds..!!
I took the platform for a test drive to see how it works and if it can assist the industry in saving costs and making the process of document transfer simpler, easier, economical and more importantly, secure and safer..
World Economic Forum recognises Haven Inc., as Technology Pioneer
Haven, Inc., the California-based Software as a Service company that produces the premier Transportation Management System for international shippers, was selected among hundreds of candidates as one of the World Economic Forum’s “Technology Pioneers”.
The World Economic Forum’s Technology Pioneers are early to growth-stage companies from around the world that are involved in the design, development and deployment of new technologies and innovations, and are poised to have a significant impact on business and society. Technology Pioneers community is an integral part of the larger Global Innovators community of start-ups at the World Economic Forum.
How shipping containers can help in tackling COVID-19
Hospitals made from shipping containers could help tackle COVID-19
- Architects have designed intensive care units built inside shipping containers.
- These mobile hospitals could help ease pressure on health systems.
- The team behind CURA wants to scale rapidly to tackle the spread of COVID-19 in Africa.
An Italian design company has teamed up with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to create prefabricated intensive care units (ICUs), to deal with escalating numbers of coronavirus patients around the world.
Coronavirus patients with access to hospital equipment, in particular ICU beds, have a much greater chance of survival. With 377,431 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on 24 March, health systems around the world are groaning under the strain.
ICC’s initiatives to standardise digital trade
The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has launched some digital initiatives aimed at creating a collaborative cross-industry effort to enable the standardisation of digital trade..
The first one called The ICC Digital Trade Standards Initiative (DSI), will build on work done by various like minded initiatives, many of which aim to digitise trade, notably through the development of open trade and technology standards to promote interoperability.
In the other initiative, the ICC is partnering with various government, business and other stakeholders to create digital solutions that will advance economic prosperity for all.
In line with its Declaration for the Next Century of Global Business, the ICC is committed to maximising the benefits of the digital economy through establishing key partnerships to unify, simplify, and transform trade processes for all.
Scale-less weighing of containers for SOLAS VGM
SOLAS VGM – probably a term which may have slipped many people’s minds as it seems to have successfully integrated itself into the mainstream container shipping process since its mandatory implementation in July 2016.. Now it seems to be back, but in a good way though..
In July 2016, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) issued a mandatory requirement which required all shipping containers to be weighed and the weight information (Verified Gross Mass) be provided to the shipping lines as part of the SOLAS (Safety of Life At Sea convention) Chapter VI Regulation 2..
This requirement came on the back of continued misdeclaration of weights by shippers many of which resulted in incidents at sea causing loss of property and/or lives..
The regulation allowed shippers to provide the VGM to the carriers using two different methods
- Weigh the packed container using calibrated and certified weighing equipment like a weighbridge to get the VGM
- Weigh the cargo, dunnage, lashing material and add the tare weight of the container to get the VGM
Although there has not been any real comments or incidents relating to the misdeclaration of weights after the implementation of the SOLAS VGM regulation in 2016, it has been reported that shipping industry has been struggling with Method 1, as physically weighing every shipping container requires significant efforts and costly, space-consuming scales..
Well, it seems there is a solution for that..
How shipping containers are making FIFA World Cup 2022 possible..
When Malcom Mclean an American trucking company owner/trucker turned inventor and Mechanical Engineer Keith Tantlinger got together to create the first shipping container in 1956, they definitely had no idea how viral their creation would go..
Whether as a part of the 23,498,710 TEUs in circulation right now carrying various cargoes across the world or being used as a student accommodation in South Africa or being used as a farm in Maryland, USA the ubiquitous shipping container has come a long way indeed..
But it looks like the simple yet efficient structural design and flexibility of the ubiquitous container continues to inspire people around the world to bring out the best..
Maersk to test a containerised battery system to improve on board performance
I for one, am quite pleased with the many initiatives that the shipping and freight industry has been taking to combat climate change and reduce CO2 emissions..
Implementing IMO 2020 sulphur cap, testing the usage of bio-fuels to run ships, using scrubbers, avoiding north sea route, changing ships technology to use less fuel, etc etc etc.. While what is being done is commendable, there is still a LOT left to do in order to reach the goals set..
For its part, Maersk has announced that it will pilot a battery system to improve power production on board ships..
Fastest rail freight service between China and Germany launched
We may have found a solution for shippers looking for an option between an expensive but quick air freight option and a less expensive but slower sea freight option.. This seems to be the message from Steve Huang, CEO of DHL Global Forwarding China..
A joint initiative between DHL Global Forwarding and Xi’an International Inland Port Investment & Development Group Co. Ltd will see container freight being shipped from Xi’an in China to Hamburg and Neuss in Germany, a distance of around 7,861 kms in a record setting transit time of 10-12 days..
China to expedite development of Blockchain Technology
When the President of the 2nd largest economy in the world and the world’s factory China urges for the development of blockchain technology to be expedited, you know things are about to get real in the world of technology..
Plans are afoot to make Blockchain technology a key part of China’s innovation program and also to increase investment in the sector..
Hot on the heels of this call by the Chinese President, The Standing Committee of the 13th National People’s Congress in China passed a cryptography law on the 26th October that will be effective on January 1, 2020..
If this is not focus, then I don’t know what is..