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
Freight transport, also referred to as freight forwarding, is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been ...
portal is to the maritime industry what a
global distribution system
A global distribution system (GDS) is a computerised network system owned or operated by a company that enables transactions between travel industry service providers, mainly airlines, hotels, car rental companies, and Travel agency, travel agen ...
(GDS) is to the
airline
An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers or freight (cargo). Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines ...
industry.
History
Shipping portals first emerged in 2000-2001 when
CargoSmart,
GT Nexus
Infor Nexus (formerly known as GT Nexus) is an independent business unit of Infor LLC offering a multienterprise supply chain network. The on-demand global supply chain management platform and integrated applications are used worldwide by busine ...
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.
Sailing schedule search engines
No portals can access all
shipping line
A shipping line or shipping company is a company whose line of business is ownership and operation of ships.
Shipping companies provide a method of distinguishing ships by different kinds of cargo:
# Bulk cargo is a type of special cargo that is ...
s. With around 250
container ship
A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermodal ...
ping 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
A container port, container terminal, or intermodal terminal is a facility where cargo containers are transshipped between different transport vehicles, for onward transportation. The transshipment may be between container ships and land v ...
*
Containerization
Containerization is a system of intermodal freight transport using intermodal containers (also called shipping containers, or International Organization for Standardization, ISO containers). Containerization, also referred as container stuf ...
*
Intermodal container
An intermodal container, often called a shipping container, or a freight container, (or simply "container") is a large metal crate designed and built for intermodal freight transport, meaning these containers can be used across different Mode ...
*
List of busiest container ports
This article lists the world's busiest container port
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary ...
*
List of ship companies
The following articles list companies that operate ships:
* List of freight ship companies
A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be m ...
*
Merchant vessel
A merchant ship, merchant vessel, trading vessel, or merchantman is a watercraft that transports cargo or carries passengers for hire. This is in contrast to pleasure craft, which are used for personal recreation, and naval ships, which a ...
*
List of container shipping companies by ship fleets and containers
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shipping Portal
Freight transport
Logistics
Transport software