5 Reasons Why Investing In Maritime Software Solutions Is A Must

The technology industry is the one industry whose developments provide positive improvements for all other industries. Even the maritime shipping industry is a benefactor of the progress achieved by information technology. This can be clearly seen with the evolution of machinery and systems used by everyone from the container ship crew to the dockers who load their cargo.

In comparison to other industries, large shipping lines are the ones who adapt to technological advancements easily, while the smaller operators of marine cargo vessels often need a little more convincing. Smaller maritime shipping companies who have yet to adapt integrated shipping software in their operations will find that it will add profound improvements in their services. These improvements include:

1. Faster and more secure service at ports using port disbursement software, container management software, and feeder shipping software.
2. More profits for each individual voyage using voyage estimation software and voyage calculation software.
3. Effortless communication between logistics partners and cargo recipients with custom ERP solutions and CRM.
4. Safer documentation and adherence to existing maritime policies and regulations using liner principal software and NVOCC software.
5. More reliable cargo container integrity using container repair software.

There are other maritime software available that small shipping companies can greatly benefit from. While these software are available individually, their greatest benefit can be achieved using enterprise-wide software suites for complete streamlined operations. All these business solutions can be easily acquired from shipping software companies. It's all just a matter of choosing which software will provide the best benefit for maritime shipment.

The Need For Improvement In The Shipping Industry

Despite rapid advancements in technology, container ports throughout the globe still operate on inefficient industry practices that often cause hours of delay, unintended damage to consignments and even loss of cargo (through theft) - not to mention pose various safety and security risks for the stevedores. These shipping issues are further compounded by documentation problems such as bill of lading fraud and rampant misdeclaration of cargo weights.

Systematic and centralized port operations are difficult to achieve, especially for the shipping industry where accountability for consignments are continuously transferred from one shipping agency to another throughout the cargo transportation process. This is a problem faced not only by private port operators but a constant challenge even for established ports around the globe.

Innovative and technological business solutions should be the focus of international shipping and maritime organizations to reform outdated processes in the shipping industry. Having advanced maritime software solutions will help a shipping agency streamline performance, sustainability and productivity throughout port operations. For example: there are feeder shipping software available that will significantly enhance cargo transportation, loading and unloading; container management software that will improve cargo stowage planning and ensure safety; and even port disbursement software that help secure all port transactions.

Shipping organizations and shipping software companies who wish to further improve port efficiency can participate in Singapore’s New Generation of Container Port (NGCP) Challenge, where development of innovative concepts and proposals will be sponsored by Singapore Maritime Institute (SMI) in the hopes of revolutionizing the container port industry.

Could These Be Desperate Measures From The Maritime Shipping Industry?

Due to the economic recession in Europe, companies in the international shipping industry continue to report financial losses amounting to millions of dollars, leading maritime shipping companies to brace for an uncertain scenario in the future. Shipping lines have already laid up shipping containers equivalent to 5 percent (or 800,000 twenty-foot equivalent units) of the total global shipping container capacity. Global shipping lines continue to struggle with losses as the maritime shipping industry gripes with continuing bunker fuel hikes and subsequently low freight rates. These issues are further compounded by weak demands for cargo globally. A container management software with proven efficiency developed by reliable shipping software companies would enable shipping liners to optimize cargo capacity per trip to minimize bunker fuel consumption.

Cargo ships are not the only casualties of high bunker fuel rates. Feeder shipping lines have been consequently affected by the decrease in mainline ship numbers, resulting in fewer feeder ships calling at loading ports, particularly at Kochi port. The primary agent for the overall decrease in feeder ship numbers appear to be feeder shipping liners that have been maximizing cargo carrying capacity, when previously, ships only utilized 60-70% carrying capacity. Feeder shipping software aboard feeder ships would help to ensure safe cargo container transportation between loading ports.

Maximizing cargo carrying capacity for both mainline cargo ships and feeder ships are viable solutions, but this only provides a temporary solution to the current global shipping problem. If fuel costs continue to rise in the future, cargo shipping companies are bound for a truly bleak future.