Maersk Debuts Online Spot Booking System

Danish shipping conglomerate Maersk launched a digital service that is designed to simplify supply chains and provides customers with a cargo loading guarantee at a fixed price.

The Maersk Spot platform also helps its clients by addressing some of the fundamental inefficiencies that exist across the industry, said a press release.

"It is not uncommon to see overbookings to the tune of 30%, and often this leads to rolling of the customers’ cargoes since there is overbooking to compensate for the high downfall," said Silvia Ding, Global Head of Ocean Products at Maersk. "This creates a lot of uncertainty for our customers. With Maersk Spot, we provide full visibility of the price and terms that will ensure cargoes get on board. Ultimately allowing customers to move their cargo in a much simpler and more reliable way.”

With Maersk Spot, customers can search and get competitive rates online 24/7. The all-in price is calculated and fixed when the booking is confirmed, which happens instantly. This dynamic online pricing fixed at booking creates one transaction for the customer from quotation to booking confirmation, profoundly simplifying the buying process.

When a booking is confirmed by the customer, Maersk commits to load and grants certainty in operational execution. This is a mutual commitment between the customer and Maersk which ensures that the vicious cycle of overbookings is addressed. In case of booking cancellations, fees apply at the customer’s charge. If cargo is rolled, Maersk compensates the customer.

The mutual commitment paired with increased visibility of sailings and certainty of prices has been to date embraced by more than 3,000 unique customers each week, with already over 50,000 Forty-Foot-Equivalent (FFE) units booked in Q2.