Under the liner shipping environment which is being challenged from various aspects internally and externally, it is imperative to have cooperation with partner lines. If considering the principle of service network which is comprised of physical ships and networks connected to the port calls, it is evident that more flexibilities are coming from available assets and options of the service which could be established and fulfilled.

In this regards, liner shipping companies tend to make the various format of cooperations from a SOC shipment to Alliance with vessel pooling. No matter how big the carrier is, these kinds of cooperation in liner shipping to be continued as it has existed. Only the members of cooperation and dynamics will be changed continuously based on company’s strategic and market positions.

To perform the cooperation between liners, various information is being shared. It includes vessel schedule, special cargo application, operation result in Baplie, agreed allocation/price, and settlement result, which are essential to maintaining the agreed cooperation accordance with contracts. However, there are challenges in the communication between the different systems and working practice always. Moreover, regarding accuracy, real-time communication, efficiency in handling information, it is a manually intensive process and which could be improved by the supporting of IT.

If it is possible to work with other liners as we are working in one system without worry for converting code, validation, no matter the scope and depth of cooperation in real-time, more efficient operation and decision making should be possible.

I have confidence that current interactions between container liners can be improved more to reach in collaboration through supportive functions by an IT platform service. All the players’ roles are producer and consumer simultaneously, and the enabling made by a common platform should make players more cooperative to go into the collaborative operation.