Seafreight portal goes live

EIGHTEEN MONTHS since its launch, the multi-line internet portal for the seafreight industry, INTTRA, is now live and offering clients track and trace, booking requests and confirmations, as well as multi-carrier sailing schedules.
In South Africa last week to initiate a joint working forum with member carriers in South Africa and to help them to promote INTTRA in the region was Hong Kong-based general manager Asia Pacific, Paul Stephen.
He also took time out to visit key multi-carrier accounts to establish market reaction to the facility. And from all accounts, the response has been extremely positive, Stephen told FTW.
INTTRA founders include CMA CGM, Hamburg Sud, Hapag-Lloyd, Maersk Sealand, Mediterranean Shipping Company and P&O Nedlloyd. Also interacting on the system are Alianca, ANL, Columbus Line, Crowley American Transport, Safmarine, Deutsche-Afrika Linien, United Arab Shipping and NYK.
ÒWe welcome the participation of all carriers in the portal, not necessarily joining from an equity perspective and regardless of whether they belong to another portal or not,Ó said Stephen.
ItÕs all part of the move away from individual carriers working with proprietary IT-systems and meets the market demand for one-stop shopping through one window across all the participating carriers.
Shippers and freight forwarders using the INTTRA portal have two options, according to Stephen.
INTTRA-ACT enables the user to sign on via the internet and perform all the booking and search functions on line.
INTTRA-LINK will provide EDI connectivity between carriers and their customers enabling them to create transactions through their existing internal systems.
Several new facilities will go live in coming months. Shipping instructions will be added in the near future, while enhanced reporting and alerting notification facilities will be provided later this year.
INTTRA is a neutral body, with no single carrier owning a majority of the shares. Rigorous built-in security ensures that data access is restricted to authorised parties only.