Ocean Network Express (ONE) has announced plans to develop and integrate a smart container solution across its global fleet.
The technology-enabled containers – which will be developed in collaboration with Sony Network Communications Europe - will enable better visibility of the containers, faster and more proactive decision-making, and will facilitate more efficient container movement. Customers will also have access to live updates throughout a shipment’s journey.
“It will also provide more reliable shipping data for easy, transparent communication with relevant stakeholders,” says Hiroki Tsujii, ONE’s managing director, product & network. “From its very inception, ONE has believed in the value of collaboration. Now, together with Sony, we are excited to create the future of container shipping. This is a future where we have access to the insights we need to offer our customers a higher quality of service to forge a new standard of process excellence. The development of this smart container solution will combine the very best from experts in our respective fields. Our joint mission will aim to push the limits of what we are capable of with innovative logistics technologies.”
A report released by maritime consultancy Drewry last year estimates that the global telematics-enabled container equipment fleet will grow eightfold over the next five years and account for 25% of global box inventories by 2026.
The sharp rise to more than 8.75 million boxes will be driven by wider adoption across the dry container fleet, according to the consultancy’s Container Census & Leasing Annual Review & Forecast 2022/23 report.
Smart containers have increased in prominence following the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and resultant supply chain disruption, which has highlighted the need for better cargo visibility to cope with longer and more volatile transit times. And the pace of adoption of smart containers is expected to accelerate over the next five years.
A container becomes ‘smart’ when fitted with a telematics device that provides real-time tracking and monitoring, enabling operators to increase turn time of their containers and so improve equipment availability.
