Through one single, well-secured portal, the service Cargo information offers forwarders insight into the cargo information (Bills of Lading) of all the containers they have aboard an incoming ship. To them, this overview constitutes a highly practical tool for taking care of administrative cargo formalities and the arrangement of onward transport. The forwarder no longer needs to (frequently) call the cargo handling agent.
In addition to B/L information, the service also shows the exchange rate at which the cargo will be financially settled (the so-called ‘boat rate’), the date from which the forwarder should start paying demurrage to the cargo handling agent and the return address for an empty container.
Moreover, forwarders can at a single glance see the exact location of the vessel carrying their cargo. The new service gives an up-to-date overview of all the sea-going vessels that are expected at or present in the port of Rotterdam as well as recently departed vessels. For each sea-going vessel, additional details about expected arrival and departure times, the berth in Rotterdam, the sailing route etc are available. Forwarders amongst other things need this kind of data to properly plan the follow-up transport of the cargo aboard the vessel.
Cargo information substantially improves the exchange of data between forwarder and shipping company/cargo handling agent. Expectations are that the number of telephone calls will decrease by at least 80 percent because of the service. Shipping companies/cargo handling agents offer input for Cargo information through Cargo declaration EDI 1.1 and Cargo declaration Internet 1.1.
Cargo information
