Technology is starting to play a pivotal role in shipping as this is what is going to help bottle necks disappear. Shipping has been an industry that has lagged behind other sectors in the logistical world and data has highlighted how bad they have been. What has happened over the last year was for many a shock, but this was bound to happen as there was no room for growth as harbors and ports were maximized already.
What has become clear and obvious over the last year or so is that the ports need to upgrade and expand in order to receive more volume. The delays are having a knock on effect which only means we all pay more as shipping costs have to increase due to increased waiting times.
The offloading and loading is no longer a well oiled machine as the booking slots one would normally see are no longer and your slot is when there is space and capacity available.
The figures are interesting and kind of tell you where things currently sit regarding imports and exports. We haven't heard much in the news lately about the Supply Chain issues, but they definitely are still happening and will still take months if not years to rectify. Shipping companies need to work smarter as the system is broken and will take time to fix.
TEU stands for Twenty Equipment Unit or in other words a 20ft Container. Over 3 million containers waiting outside various ports to offload is a serious number and you can understand why there are container shortages.
This figure clearly shows South Africa is slow at loading and off loading so charging them more for wasted time has to be the answer. Japan for the volume they handle is very impressive and is clearly way out in front.
Automated Identification Systems is gathering the data which will hopefully transform shipping and fix what is currently taking place. What would really be an eye opener is how long these vessels stay outside of ports and the total time wasted.
What is interesting to note is the number of new startup apps that have now appeared providing key information to the shipping industry. The logistics industry is changing and the data being provided is what is creating these changes. Higher demand means everyone involved has to be smarter and at the top of their game in order to benefit and play a key role.
Just to name a few we have #MarineTraffic which allows shippers/brokers and clients to track their shipments. #FreightFlows is another that combines data helping to plan out chartering projections with up to date time frames. #HarbourLab is a Greek based company that calculates port costs through their app. Every hour spent in port is very costly as the pier space and services runs into hundreds of thousands of dollars for every visit. There are a few others which track things like emissions and water pollution which will become more important in the years to come.
This side of the industry is going to change at a rapid pace as they have been caught out by not advancing with the times. This bottleneck issue would have been highlighted years ago if they had embraced technology. Better late than never yet we will suffer bearing the costs whilst they make even more profits which doesn't exactly sound like a fair deal.
