With paperless transactions, Maersk Line to step up digitalisation

Maersk Line, the world’s biggest container shipping company, is upping its digital play by making business transactions completely “paperless”.

The company is looking to cut costs in an industry hit by over-capacity and falling freight rates, forcing consolidation through alliances, mergers and acquisitions.

“We have an aggressive plan on making the business more digital, globally. It will be rolled out over the next one-two years,” Steve Felder, MD of the Danish giant’s India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives region, told BusinessLine .

Currently, 99 per cent of Maersk Line’s bookings are done online, while 97 per cent of the shipping instructions are issued online.

“We are exploring ways of making payments easier. We are constantly improving the functionality of our mobile app. We are looking at electronic delivery orders. There is a lot (more) to do and it’s high on the agenda. There is a benefit for everyone in this,” Felder said in his first media interview after taking charge on August 1.

A Maersk Line veteran, Felder said his company is betting on India’s growth story.

“If you look at India in macro terms, it is very difficult not to get excited. With 40 million new consumers coming into the net each year, a median age of 27 years, 40 per cent of global luxury car sales, and more than 7 per cent GDP growth expected in 2017, India’s share of global trade is likely to double to 6 per cent in the coming years and exports expected to reach $750 billion.

“You can’t help but be excited about the potential. There is such a natural momentum here for shipping lines and especially for us to play a role in being part of the growth story,” he said.

India, he said, has good basic infrastructure in place. “But, there is still some way to go. If you look at some of the ambitious projects such as the Sagarmala (port project) and the dedicated freight corridor, there is a clear indication that a lot more can be done to make India as competitive as possible.

“It’s encouraging to see such large-scale projects being committed to; obviously, we want to see faster execution of such projects to realise the full potential,” he added.

Felder’s agenda includes convincing the Centre to deregulate rates at the dozen ports. “We are very much in favour of free market. We want our customers and ourselves to be able to negotiate prices based on our own buying power and merits. Lesser regulation on pricing, the better.”

Maersk Line, he said, plans to start a sustainable-over-land transport service from one of India’s eastern coast ports to Bangladesh, similar to the service it began recently from the container terminal at Vizag port to Nepal.

“I think it’s possible and it’s being looked at.

“There is potential for a service because Chittagong port is also getting congested. We will have to see if it is scalable or not. Kolkata would be the logical gateway port to Bangladesh,” he added.

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