DCSA & FMC Commissioner collaborate on Maritime Data Standards

AMSTERDAM: Commissioner Carl Bentzel of the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) and the Digital Container Shipping Association (DCSA) met to discuss the way forward for setting maritime data standards in the United States and beyond. The meeting was part of Commissioner Bentzel’s Maritime Transportation Data Initiative (MTDI) of which the final recommendations will be published soon.

“During theCOVIDpandemicthe inefficiencies in global maritime supply chains became painfully clear. Theseinefficienciescostedtrillionsof dollars which contributed to the high inflation US consumers are experiencing today”, Commissioner Bentzel said. “The issues are caused to a large extent by a lack of meaningfulandreal-timeexchangeof the data necessary to ensure an efficientandeconomictransportation system. And, because providing an efficientandeconomictransportation systeminoceancommerceisthecore responsibility of the FMC, we started theMTDI.”

André Simha, Chairman of the DCSA Supervisory Board and Global Chief Digital & Innovation Officer of MSC, confirmed the need for better data; “The traditional methods container shipping has been using to exchange data have revealed their limitations in recent years. That is why, despite being competitors, the containers shipping lines came together in 2019 and founded DCSA. The association has made a lot of progress advancing digitalization through common open-source standards, but we can’t do it alone as ocean carriers. The maritime supply chain is made of separate links which all need to be equally strong.

We welcome the FMC’s MTDI initiative which brings together all stakeholders to identify and address the shortcomings of standardized data exchange in maritime transportation.”

The DCSA Supervisory Board, which consists of the global CIO’s of the largest container shipping lines and representation of the cargo owner’s community, appreciated this approach. Thomas Bagge, CEO of DCSA, said: “collaboration between the public and private sectors, as displayed in the MTDI, is essential to solve the challenges still inherent in supplychains.Suchcollaborationwill provide better resilience, visibility and efficiency to the benefit of all ecosystemparticipants..TheMTDIis an extension of the work we began, and we are proud and excited to see our efforts accelerated in this way. Therefore, we highly appreciate the leadingroleCommissionerBentzelis taking. Not just in the US but globally”.