The Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) has registered its global container fleet on the BIC’s BoxTech Global Container Database.
In a move that boosts the liner’s operational transparency, MSC has uploaded technical details of their fleet to the Bureau International des Containers (BIC) non-profit global container database.
MSC joins other shipping giants, including CMA CGM and Maersk, on the database, which now features technical details of more than 10 million containers — about 40% of the global container fleet.
Chief Information Officer at MSC, André Simha, commented: “Transparency and easy, standardised data access are vital to many of the digitalisation efforts underway in the shipping industry.
“MSC therefore fully supports the BoxTech Global Container Database and we are delighted to upload our global fleet details to help expand this neutral, non-profit platform. It has tremendous potential to help drive efficiencies in many areas.”
Secretary General of the BIC, Douglas Owen, said: “We are thrilled that the world’s three largest ocean carriers have now registered their fleets, thereby helping to make BoxTech a core business platform for shippers, carriers, depots and other parties to use in their day to day operations.”
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BoxTech was launched in July 2016, and now has a user base of over 1500 — who rely on the central data repository to obtain technical container details such as tare weight, size and type.
Maersk Line and CMA-CGM were among the early adopters of these helpful features and have been registering their container sales on the platform since late 2017.
Owen said: “The industry has changed in recent years as carriers look increasingly to technology and the use of data to drive efficiencies.
“Although sharing data is something that has come slowly in our industry, we have seen unprecedented cooperation over the past two years and a new openness to the use of common platforms.
“Organizations across the world are telling us that they want an open, impartial solution, and there is growing demand for more data from more container shipping companies to be added to the database.
“Our industry is keen to adopt this new digital and collaborative way of working, and we encourage the remaining carriers and container lessors to register their fleets on the platform now.”
