The Digital Container Shipping Association (DCSA) is continuing its efforts to make information sharing easier.

On Tuesday the nonprofit specifically tackled ship-related information transparency with the publication of standards for the exchange of operational vessel schedules (OVS). The OVS standards can be implemented by vessel operators as well as vessel-sharing agreement partners and operational service providers to enable the automatic sharing of schedule information, according to DCSA.

The Standard for Operational Vessel Schedules is available for free download on the DCSA website. 

DCSA said that with the new standards in place, carriers can digitally publish their schedules, and their partners and operational service providers can subscribe to feeds to automatically receive updates or retrieve them if needed. DCSA said this will provide vessel schedule transparency, increasing efficiency, and enabling better planning and optimization of container ships. 

This is the latest initiative launched by the nonprofit DCSA to accelerate digitalization through a unified industry effort. In early June, DCSA published what it said was the first internet of things connectivity interface standards for shipping containers. In May, it announced a collaborative effort to push for industry adoption of electronic bills of lading. 

DCSA was founded in April 2019 to drive standardization, digitization, and interoperability in container shipping. The Amsterdam-based neutral nonprofit is made up of nine container carriers: MSC, Maersk, CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd, Evergreen, Yang Ming, HMM, ZIM, and Ocean Network Express (ONE). 

Yu Kurimoto, ONE's corporate and innovation managing director, said DCSA's work complements his company's values of quality, reliability, innovation, and customer satisfaction.

"Furthering these values in the modern era requires greater transparency and interoperability among industry participants. OVS is a perfect example of an area in which digitalization would provide these benefits. We are very pleased to see DCSA taking on OVS with its digital standards initiatives. Their efforts are important for helping ONE and the industry achieve its goals moving forward," he said. 

DCSA CEO Thomas Bagge said OVS digitalization is necessary to increase efficiency in container shipping. 

"This release is an important step in that direction," Bagge said. "Once implemented, our OVS standards will, for example, enable a port operator to optimize their operational activities in accordance with the exact arrival time and departure date of a vessel.

"Ultimately, the more transparency and efficiency we build into these fundamental processes, the more each stakeholder will be able to trust and benefit in terms of lower costs, increased productivity, greater innovation, better customer experience and less impact on the environment," he said. 

DCSA said it will be conducting webinars in July to provide an overview of the OVS publication. Registration links may be found on the DCSA events page.

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Click for more FreightWaves/American Shipper articles by Kim Link-Wills.

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