TECHNOLOGY
Container database five million and counting BIC’s non-profit BoxTech Technical Characteristics Database reaches five million containers - that’s 20 per cent of the global fleet
H
undreds of shippers, forwarders, terminals and other organisations are moving towards digitalisation with access to details of around five million containers through BoxTech, the database of container technical details provided by the Bureau International des Containers (BIC). Since its launch in July 2016, the BIC’s non-profit BoxTech Technical Characteristics Database has been supporting shippers, carriers, leasing companies and container owners by providing a simple, single source of container details. Most recently, leading container leasing companies Florens and Blue Sky Intermodal, Taipei-based carrier TS Lines and Korean carriers Pan Ocean and CK Line uploaded their fleet details. Combined with the information already added by many other global ocean carriers and container leasing companies, the BoxTech database now holds the details for five million shipping containers, approximately 20 per cent of the global fleet. Continuously expanding, the database has also now reached over 1,000 total users, including 800 major shippers, forwarders and terminals. “BoxTech was initially intended primarily as a platform to provide tare weight information to support organisations’ compliance with new SOLAS* rules around VGM (verified gross mass) declarations,”says Douglas Owen, Secretary General of the BIC, explaining that the database is specially designed to support carriers, shippers, forwarders and other stakeholders with reducing manual tasks and enable better integration with other digital systems. “However, BoxTech’s 1000+ users are now also utilising the database for a wide variety
42 JULY/AUGUST 2017
of purposes, such as verifying container size and type or maximum gross weight,”he continues.“New features are on the way, so leasing companies and carriers will soon also be able to upload ‘alert lists’ of various types.” This forthcoming status alert list functionality is just one way that BoxTech is constantly evolving to best meet the needs of the shipping industry. The BoxTech Alerts system will enable container owners to create alert lists that quickly flag specific units in case of bankruptcies and other recovery situations, such as lost or stolen units, or to simply inform users whenever a special status exists for a given unit. Container sale and scrap lists will allow carriers and lessors to indicate containers that have permanently left their fleets, and help prevent improperly-marked containers from continuing to circulate with their markings. This will improve safety, reduce potential risk and liability, and encourage the proper neutralisation of containers when sold. Signing up to BoxTech is quick, simple and user-friendly. The initial file of container fleet technical details is uploaded easily using a CSV template. Subsequent data uploads can then be automated via APIs, saving time and removing the need for a manual process while ensuring the database is always up to date. An automated API can also be put in place for conducting database queries, eliminating manual tasks completely for shippers and other parties needing tare weight, size and type or other container characteristics. Accessing data in BoxTech is also extremely
simple for those using the website. Users simply sign-up online and query the database by typing in a container number. “The Global Shippers’ Forum welcomes steps taken by BIC to establish a comprehensive global database for containers and encourages container carriers to support this much-needed initiative by providing information about their pool of containers on the database”, says Chris Welsh, Secretary General of the Global Shippers Forum. Chris Welsh continues,“Shippers want