The encyclopedia · Software & IT · Strategic decision · 2000–2008
Rival ocean carriers built INTTRA, one neutral portal for every booking
Five rival container lines co-founded one e-booking network, so shippers booked and tracked any carrier through a single link.
INTTRA · Maersk Line · MSC · CMA CGM
The solution
Ocean shipping ran on paper and point-to-point EDI: a forwarder dealing with a dozen carriers needed a dozen separate electronic links, each costly to build and maintain, while booking still meant phones and faxes.
In April 2000 five rival carriers — Maersk Line, MSC, CMA CGM, Hamburg Süd and Hapag-Lloyd — founded INTTRA as a neutral portal for ocean freight. Shippers and forwarders got standardized booking, sailing schedules and track-and-trace for all participating carriers through one web interface or one EDI link.
The network grew past 20 ocean carriers, and by 2008 INTTRA said about 15% of global container shipments — more than 260,000 a week — were initiated through its platform.
Why it worked
- One integration replaced $50,000-a-year point-to-point EDI links.
- Neutral, carrier-owned governance kept any single line from owning the channel.
- Standard booking templates cut errors and phone-and-fax follow-up.
- Every new carrier made the network more valuable to every shipper.
What can be applied
Sometimes competitors should build the shared utility together: a neutral platform owned by the carriers themselves removed the fear of one line controlling the booking channel.
Aftermath
INTTRA expanded its toolset over two decades, and E2open acquired it in 2018; the combined network then reached 177 countries with more than 35,000 shippers and 60 carriers.
Sources
- Web Portal Delivers Ocean Freight Connectivity
- Customers latch onto benefits of INTTRA e-commerce platform
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