Booking space on a vessel is as easy as booking a flight online, thanks to a revolutionary service called Youship, according to its owners, AP Moller Maersk.
Youship, which has now been running since December 3, is a wholly online cargo booking service. Heading up the project is Lars Jensen, formerly of Maersk's market intelligence division. His vision for the project is to create a hassle-free, transparent, one-stop online booking system.
The service will reportedly streamline cargo booking by issuing shippers or freight forwarders with a single document, an E/Doc, to replace the bill of lading, and other documents usually needed in shipping.@FAXTEXT ="We had this idea that you should be able to do everything from the site, printing out your invoice and booking confirmation and have everything done in 10 minutes," Mr Jensen told the Hong Kong Shipping Gazette. "Now we've realised that this is simply not ambitious enough. You can actually do everything in just a few minutes."
The E/Doc will include all details of the transaction, and will be available to print out immediately upon payment. "It's an invoice, it's a receipt, and it also serves as your booking confirmation. It is the only document you need," Mr Jensen said, adding that the E/Doc also serves as a space guarantee.
The director said that in cases where cargo was not loaded onboard the booked vessel despite having its E/Doc, Youship will provide a full refund and ship it free of charge.
One of the other highlights of the service is that Youship will publish actual live all-in freight rates. "The rate that you see is non-negotiable and you are guaranteed that price once you have made the online booking. If you see a freight rate online and it's says [US]$2,000, that's it. At no point onward from there will that price ever increase. Here is the deal, right here, right now," he said. "It's completely transparent."
Youship, which has now been running since December 3, is a wholly online cargo booking service. Heading up the project is Lars Jensen, formerly of Maersk's market intelligence division. His vision for the project is to create a hassle-free, transparent, one-stop online booking system.
The service will reportedly streamline cargo booking by issuing shippers or freight forwarders with a single document, an E/Doc, to replace the bill of lading, and other documents usually needed in shipping.@FAXTEXT ="We had this idea that you should be able to do everything from the site, printing out your invoice and booking confirmation and have everything done in 10 minutes," Mr Jensen told the Hong Kong Shipping Gazette. "Now we've realised that this is simply not ambitious enough. You can actually do everything in just a few minutes."
The E/Doc will include all details of the transaction, and will be available to print out immediately upon payment. "It's an invoice, it's a receipt, and it also serves as your booking confirmation. It is the only document you need," Mr Jensen said, adding that the E/Doc also serves as a space guarantee.
The director said that in cases where cargo was not loaded onboard the booked vessel despite having its E/Doc, Youship will provide a full refund and ship it free of charge.
One of the other highlights of the service is that Youship will publish actual live all-in freight rates. "The rate that you see is non-negotiable and you are guaranteed that price once you have made the online booking. If you see a freight rate online and it's says [US]$2,000, that's it. At no point onward from there will that price ever increase. Here is the deal, right here, right now," he said. "It's completely transparent."