CargoSmart, the boxship booking portal, is teaming up with the Shanghai Shipping Exchange, to develop a new shipping index for what they described as “ocean carrier schedule reliability”.
The tie up is at the “memorandum of cooperation” stage with neither side revealing any timetable for the index’s launch.
The two companies said they would “create a new 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”.
Shanghai Shipping Exchange claims it has been “playing a significant role” in providing up-to-date and accurate shipping information, including publishing the China Containerized Freight Index (CCFI) and Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI).
“The alliance with CargoSmart allows us to expand the insights we provide for the shipping industry,” said Yao Weifu, Vice President of Shanghai Shipping Exchange.
“We look forward to collaborating with CargoSmart to deliver a new shipping index that increases transparency to ocean carrier performance.”
CargoSmart says it monitors and analyzes over 16,000 vessels, 1,400 global container ports, 3,000 ocean carrier services representing 85% of the market, and 10m sailing schedules.
It claims that by tapping into its “comprehensive database and applying analytics”, it will enable “effective and accurate” measurement of ocean carriers’ schedule reliability performance.
CargoSmart chief commercial officer said the two companies “share a common desire to improve supply chain efficiency and productivity”.
Shanghai Shipping Exchange and CargoSmart said they will establish the index scope and methodology through a joint working group.
