ShipsGo is a digital container tracking platform with no direct physical connection to containers; in other words, ShipsGo is not accountable for delayed containers and issues such as your containers being affected by many external factors. However, in case of the estimated time of arrival changes, we notify you with notification emails. We recommend you contact the shipping line directly or your forwarder agency for reasons of delays.

The common reasons for your shipments being delayed

Your shipments may have yet to arrive at the destination port (Port of discharge) in the expected time due to many external factors. Although unexpected delays are unfortunate events, in such cases as; bad weather, port congestion, holidays, labor shortages, vehicle troubles, etc., there is nothing you can do.

An even more common situation that leads to delays is incorrect or misspelled documentation. You should prepare the correct documents to transport your shipments internationally. If you provide incorrect or misspelled documents, customs will delay your shipments. Also, it would be best if you implemented all the customs rules and regulations to prevent shipment delays. Another very simple and common mistake is giving the wrong address. If you provide a false address, your shipments may be seriously delayed. Before an international transportation process starts, check the address listed on the shipment and the country of origin multiple times.

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An exporter (cargo owners) usually operates as a producer or intermediary, which needs efficient management of both inbound and outbound logistics activities in an integrated approach. For example, the exporter engaged in production with import-based inputs should accurately forecast the transit times of inputs supplied from abroad to make production planning accordingly. With the forecasting, delays due to long transit times, especially in maritime transport, have to be known instantly. On the other hand, within the scope of finished product logistics, the cargo owner should also design a system that can deliver the container to the customer at the promised time. For many cargo owners, it is a significant problem for both early and late arrivals of the containers at the customers’ port.

Is the Current Status of Container Important for Cargo Owners?

Shipping Lines’ schedules are not reliable. According to SeaIntelligence, on-time arrivals ranged from 65% to 76% in the first nine months of 2018.  On the other hand, almost no container carrier gives any delay/update in the container transport process. Carriers, also don’t have any service informing the customer’s container has been withdrawn from the container port. Exporters have to follow up the “tracking&tracing” pages of the carriers with different designs. As a result, apart from a significant amount of time spent in this business, significant material losses and problems in customer service are experienced.

Solutions

So what do you need to do? The answer is simple;

1) The carrier with the most reliable transit time declaration should be selected,

2) A system that can receive instant information from all delays/updates during container transportation should be used.

Now, Let’s explain how ShipsGo provides these solutions briefly;

1) The carrier with the most reliable transit time declaration should be selected

Knowing the past performances is the best way to decide on the carrier that makes a reliable transit time declaration. It is straightforward to do so. Take, for example, an exporter who imports from Germany and loads his container from the Port of Bremerhaven. This exporter should bring the container to Izmir Aliaga Port with a maximum transit time of 18 days so that production plans are not interrupted. In this sense, this exporter can make a query using the find route finder” search engine of the ShipsGo platform, and the transit times of all carriers are listed on the same page.

The time shown in the list next to the carrier name is the estimated time that the ShipsGo algorithm offers the user. If the “Last Updated” information is clicked, the transit times of the last shipments made by the carrier are listed up to 5 observations. The users can easily understand the carrier’s transit time deviations and reliability.

2) Use a system that will be informed instantly of all delays during container transportation

As an exporter, you can say, “my team is currently tracking containers by looking at carriers’ websites, and I don’t need such a service.” However, the feedback ShipsGo receives from exporter customers is that the time spent on container tracking is reduced by at least 50% in the business after using ShipsGo services.

As ShipsGo, the essential services we provide to exporters within the scope of “full traceability” are as follows;

Customized tracking service

Real-time shipment monitoring

On-time arrival, delay notification, release alert, gate-out confirmation

API integration with all IT systems

Click here to explore

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The Meishan terminal of China’s Ningbo-Zhoushan container port, the world’s third busiest port, was closed.

Ningbo Meidong Container Terminal Corp, a subsidiary of Ningbo Zhoushan Port Company Ltd, stopped all loading and discharging services as of 03:30 local time on Wednesday. The reason for stopping the port’s working activities is the staff tested positive for COVID-19.

On the other hand, when a Covid-19 outbreak was detected in Yantian Port in late May, operations at the major export hub in southern China were interrupted by 70% for most of June. Most ports in the country now require Covid-19 testing for all crew, and ships are forced to stay at anchor until negative results are confirmed. In addition, many ports in the country require vessels that have previously docked in India to be quarantined for 14-28 days.

The closure is thought to cause a delay of 15 days to the Mediterranean and Europe. Experts point out that even a two or three days delay leaves huge problems behind. An expert makes the following assessment on the subject: “There is no free capacity in any port of the world – especially in Chinese ports – that can be used extra. The effect of the 2-3 day closure will lead to delays of up to 15 days in the Mediterranean and Europe. I liken it to the long queue due to an accident on the highway.”

ShipsGo’s Attitude

ShipsGo immediately notified hundreds of users to make them avoid any negative issues related to the Ningbo Port. We informed our users by saying, ” due to this situation, the arrival date of your shipments will be delayed.” In addition to that, we include some points in our notifications, such as; first ETD date (estimated time of departure) from Ningbo, updated ETD date, and POD date (port of delivery) are available. ShipsGo users have been prevented from a possible negative outcome by the Shipsgo tracking system and the notification emails.

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