Container shipping lines sign up with Alibaba to offer online booking
16/02/2017 10:50
SHANGHAI, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Two container shipping lines,
France's CMA CGM and Israel's Zim, have signed up with Alibaba
BABA.N to allow customers to book space on their vessels
through the Chinese e-commerce giant, in a bid to boost sales as
the sector battles a severe downturn.
Container lines, facing their worst ever downturn due to a
glut of ships and weaker demand, are pursuing several measures
such as vessel-sharing arrangements or mergers and acquisitions
to ride out the current slump. A growing number of logistics
firms are going online to buoy their business.
In December, Maersk - the world's largest container shipping
line and a unit of Denmark's A.P. Moller-Maersk MAERSKb.CO -
started offering online booking services to Chinese shippers on
Alibaba's OneTouch website. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1EU313
Shippers traditionally go through freight forwarders to book
space for goods on container vessels, but more liners are
allowing cargo owners to book directly via the internet. As for
e-commerce companies, they are venturing into logistics to try
to gain better control over their supply chain networks.
"Alibaba.com is open to collaborating with logistics firms
who want to join our platform which aims to streamline the
logistics process for small and medium-sized enterprises and
empower them to seize cross-border trade opportunities," an
Alibaba spokeswoman told Reuters in an e-mail on Thursday.
Israeli shipping line Zim, which is 32 percent owned by
Kenon Holdings KEN.N , has begun allowing customers to book
space through the platform on routes such as Shanghai to India
and Pakistan, or from Xiamen to South America, according to
advertisements posted on the OneTouch platform.
France's CMA CGM has signed a memorandum of understanding
with Alibaba to begin cooperating on the OneTouch platform for
routes such as Qingdao to Barcelona or Ningbo to Venice, it said
in a statement.
Acquired by Alibaba in 2010, OneTouch targets small and
medium-sized Chinese exporters with online services such as
customs clearance and logistics. It also allows them to book air
freight and parcel delivery services and supports its parent
Alibaba.com's business-to-business marketplace.
Maersk has begun offering a similar service to customers of
online freight forwarding website Yun Qu Na, it said in an
e-mail to Reuters on Thursday. The liner said in January that it
planned to launch more pilot programmes on third party portals.
(Reporting by Brenda Goh; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
((brenda.goh@thomsonreuters.com; +86)(0)(21 6104 1763; Reuters
Messaging: brenda.goh.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: ALIBABA SHIPPING/