Shipping giant MSC (Mediterranean Shipping Company) has joined other mega-carriers in registering its global container fleet on the BIC’s BoxTech Global Container Database. As a result, the technical details of more than 10 million containers—or about 40% of the global container fleet—are now available to database users, which include shippers, forwarders, terminals and software solution providers.
The MSC fleet upload occurs as BoxTech, the non-profit global container database operated by the Bureau International des Containers (BIC) approaches its two-year anniversary. MSC joins other leading global carriers, such as CMA-CGM and Maersk Line, in adopting the BoxTech solution in their businesses. Hundreds of other container owners and operators are also using the platform, including two of the top four container leasing companies.
Launched in July 2016, BoxTech now has more than 1,500 users who rely on the central data repository to efficiently obtain technical container details, such as tare weight, size and type, as well as more recently added functions such as verifying ownership status and posting recovery alerts.
Maersk Line and CMA-CGM were among the early adopters of these helpful features and have been registering container sales on the platform since late 2017. The new features have also proved particularly helpful among users from container leasing companies, simplifying the recovery of units following bankruptcy.
The BoxTech user base has also grown thanks to the many APIs available for database queries, which enable companies to digitalize more operations and automatically integrate container details into their everyday systems. Automated API database queries also streamline processes by avoiding unnecessary searches and increasing accuracy by removing the inevitable errors cause by manual data re-keying.
To sign up for the BoxTech database or for more information, go to www.bic-boxtech.org.
The BIC operates the neutral, non-profit BoxTech non-commercially to support visibility, transparency, efficiency and security. Visit www.bic-code.org for more information about the BIC.
