Professional Documents
Culture Documents
OOCL Internship PDF
OOCL Internship PDF
Forward
The following report consists of not only information on my activities and duties at OOCL
Deutschland GmbH and the company OOCL itself, but additionally on the nature and field of
ocean freight shipping. My interest in this field, and transport/logistics in general, is what
prompted me to take interest in an internship with OOCL. As such, I felt it was important to
reflect not only what I have learned from my experience working at OOCL, but also the related
logistics topics that I explored to connect my work to the nature and current state of the industry
today.
I would like to first give some background information on myself in an effort to better understand
where I came from before starting my internship at OOCL.
I am currently a senior studying at California State University Fullerton pursuing a bachelors
degree in International Business. I have taken various business courses, but only two courses
related to logistics: Payment and Documentation in International Trade, and Supply Chain
Management. I have worked with various companies in the past while in school and had been
active in the following areas: Sales/Telemarketing, Customer Service, Purchasing, and general
administrative assistance.
Although I will most likely now pursue further interest in Materials Management,
I am grateful for the opportunity to have been involved in the daily activities in Transshipment
and Traffic in the OOCL Bremen office while in the process of continuing my education.
Mario Vellandi
Table of Contents
I: Company
A) Introduction...5
B) History...5
C) Span of International Operations...6
i. Relation to Ocean Liner Industry at Large
D) Conference Lines...7
i. Introduction
ii. OOCL Conference Participation
a) Far East Freight Conference
b) Trans-Atlantic Conference Agreement
c) Canadian Secretariat
d) Asia-Australia Alliance
E) Services Offered and Assets..9
i. Trade Routes
ii. Containers
iii. Vessels
a) The need for larger ports
iv. Terminals
v. Bill of Lading
a) Types of B/Ls
b) Terms and Conditions
vi. Relation of OOCL to that of a Freight Forwarder
F) OOCL Deutschland GmbH.13
i. Branch offices and Responsibilities
ii. OOCL Bremen Branch
a) Marine Operations
b) Transshipment
c) Import Customer Service / Documentation
d) Export Customer Service / Documentation
e) Transport
f) Sales
g) Traffic
h) Marketing
i) Flow Control
j) Maintenance & Repair
k) Claims
iii. Information Technology
a) OOCL Internet
b) OOCL Infonet
c) IRIS-2
II: Transshipment: February 3rd to March 28th
A) Introduction......19
B) Department Activities and Responsibilities.19
C) My Tasks..20
D) Issues / Problems..22
Introduction..23
Department Activities and Responsibilities.23
My Tasks..25
Issues / Problems..26
I: Company
Introduction
OOCL is a subsidiary of Orient Overseas International Limited, a Hong Kong based public
company, and is a worldwide leader in integrated international container transportation and
logistics services serving Asia, Europe, North America, and Australasia. It has a highly regarded
reputation in the industry as providing customer-focused solutions and by being a pioneer in
providing Internet-based services for clients.
History
OOCL was founded in the 1940s by CY Tung, with the intent of becoming the premiere Chinese
international merchant fleet. Their first ship landed in 1947 on the U.S. Atlantic Coast and in
Europe; the company went under the name Orient Overseas Line.
In a restructuring move to expand operations, the company went under the name Orient Overseas
International Ltd. (OOIL) in 1968. The following year, as containerized transport began, the
subsidiary Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) was created which assumed the primary
business of containerized ocean cargo transport.
In respect to ship capacity, their vessels back then could carry around 300 TEU (trade term for
space meaning Twenty-foot equivalent), or fifteen 20ft. containers. Their largest ship today
(and at the moment the worlds largest), the OOCL Shenzhen, has a capacity of 8,063 TEU.
OOCL today has 160 offices in 50 countries with a global staff of 4,000.
transshipment in Hong Kong. One of OOCLs main competitors in the Asia region is China
Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO).
Combined with the growth in Asian-European trade and Trans-Atlantic trade, ports like Antwerp,
Rotterdam and Hamburg will continue to grow and expand. Hamburg expects in the near-future
to see an increase in container traffic of 16% with a large portion stemming from China and the
Baltic Sea region.
A specific issue (discussed on p.13) related to the larger proportion of exports/imports from Asia
to Europe trade, is the increased costs associated with moving unloaded containers within the
European continent. This is causing a supply chain headache for all container companies in
countries where export demand is not as high as that of import.
Conference Lines
Introduction
A shipping conference is a voluntary association of ocean carriers operating on a particular trade
route between two or more countries. These associations were originally formed in the
nineteenth century as a means to provide transport services for trade between England and its
colonies.
A shipping conference establishes uniform freight rates, and terms & conditions that are adhered
to by the member carriers. Although the sheer nature of this organizational structure can be
compared to that of a cartel, it is seen as very beneficial in the growth of international trade
through the establishment of stable and predictable rate levels. This in turn, reduces the threat of
predatory price competition.
Although a conference serves as the association at large, member carriers are divided into
alliances which provide the basis for a liner service. The carriers share or lease out an agreed
portion of their ships to other members, thus providing more frequent services for each. At the
benefit of countries and customers, liner services provide sailings on a regular schedule to and
from specific ports along a trade route. This schedule is regularly updated for each ships ETA
and ETD. The intervals, upon which the sailing schedules are set, are determined by the amount
of cargo transported on that route. For large routes from Asia-Europe, this is a weekly service.
For smaller inter-regional traffic, these may be on a two week basis.
In order to keep conferences from unfairly discriminating against independent carriers through
particular membership requirements, the U.S. and Germany require that all conferences that serve
their ports must be open. This means they must be willing to accept new carriers under fair and
reasonable terms and conditions.
The formation of modern alliances began in 1994 with the formation of the Global Alliance
between American President Lines, Mitsui OSK Line, OOCL, and Nedlloyd Lines. The Grand
Alliance came next with the members: NYK, Hapag-Lloyd, Neptune Orient Line, and P&O).
The following shows the major alliances today:
Hanjin/Senator/UASG
Other Alliances
The Asia Australia Alliance (AAA) is an alliance between Pacific International Lines (PIL),
Malaysia International Shipping Corporation (MISC), Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL), and OOCL.
Together they serve ports between Southeast Asia and Australia.
Containers
OOCL has around 350,000 containers worldwide. These vary according to size and purpose.
The first and most popular sort is the general twenty and forty foot length container. The exact
dimensions are 20/40 x 8 x 86. High Cube (HQ) containers are also available which offer one
foot greater height, 96. These containers are made of steel or aluminum (which is lighter and
can bear a higher max gross weight).
Reefer containers are refrigerated containers for temperature sensitive goods like food, chemicals,
pharmaceuticals, and particular medical equipment. Cooled air is delivered through the floor to
allow thorough distribution. These containers are made of steel with a stainless steel lining and
are available in 20ft, 40ft and 40ft high cube sizes.
Open top containers allow bulk cargo like machinery to be loaded from overhead. They come
with a PVC tarp cover and attachable bows with cable sealing devices, in addition to removable
container doors for easier cargo stuffing. They are made of steel available in 20 and 40ft sizes.
Flatracks are standard 20-40ft containers designed for heavy cargo loaded from the sides or top,
for example lumber and pipes. These are available as collapsible or non-collapsible with or
without walls, and are made of steel.
To suit the shipment needs of clothing manufacturers and distributors, OOCL also offers
Garmentainers. These special containers come in 20 and 40ft sizes, have either a string or bar
system (or both) for hanging clothes, and offer the client greater load internal capacity and lower
handling costs.
Vessels
OOCLs ship fleet is modern and relatively young in comparison to other large carriers. All of
their ships are registered under Hong Kong and come in different classes with respect to capacity
and purpose. The S-class with 10 ships carry within an average of 5,500 TEU. The E-class with
2 ships carry 2,450 TEU. The F-class with 6 ships carry an average of 3,200 TEU. The ICEclass has 3 special ships with strong reinforced hulls for very cold weather and ice conditions;
two carry up to 3,100 TEU while the last one up to 4,400 TEU. The last ship, and currently the
worlds largest, is the OOCL Shenzhen with a capacity for up to 8,063 TEU. While it has a fixed
number of ships, OOCLs membership in the Grand Alliance extends their offering of container
shipment services to over 100 ships.
The need for larger ports
Although ocean ships will only get bigger and have higher-capacities over the next 20 years,
an important issue for certain ports is the ability to accommodate these massive vessels. In
Hamburg for example, certain large ships have to wait until high-tide until they can enter the
harbor because the water-depth is not that deep (average of 14 meters in high-tide). Even so,
ships from Cuxhaven have a particular window-period of time of 2 hours within which to sail
into Hamburg. While the solution for some harbors is to build further out into the sea, this
option is quite costly and may not even be available depending on the relative geographic
location of the port to the ocean.
In northern Germany, there is a massive study into the prospect of a new mega port in
Wilhelmshaven. The project would be a costly investment and undertaking, but the prospect
of building a spacious harbor with the capacity to accommodate these massive vessels of the
future is considered well worth it. An additional benefit of this harbor would be its ability to
strongly compete against Rotterdam, already the 3rd largest port in the world. Wilhelmshaven
originally approached Bremen and Hamburg into the idea of joint investment. At the moment
only Bremen (namely BLG Bremer Lagerhaus Gesellschaft) has actively taken interest in
the prospect. Although the long-term investment potential is quite large, a greater issue at
hand is the massive infrastructure needed to support the port including larger highways,
bonded warehouses, and companies willing to establish offices there. The largest and most
important investment needed would be the building of a two-track electric railway to connect
Wilhelmshaven to either Bremen or Osnabrck; this would need to be funded by the German
Parliament.
Terminals
A terminal is an area of the harbor where a ship docks and from which its cargo is unloaded. It
also may include a container yard and bonded warehouses. Terminals may be state or privately
owned and operated, and may be located in- or outside of the Free Trade Zone of a harbor (if
available). The commission in charge of the terminal draws up the applicable load/unloading,
storage, and other applicable fees it charges the carriers.
OOCL also owns and operates port terminals in Asia and North-America. These include:
Taiwan: Kaosiung Terminal
Los Angeles: Long Beach Container Terminal
Bill of Lading
This official legal document issued by the carrier to the shipper is a contract of carriage that
represents the ownership of cargo, a negotiable document to accept cargo, and the terms and
conditions under this contract that identify the responsibilities and liabilities of each party.
Issued B/Ls come usually in a set of three originals which are signed by the master of the ship or
another authorized person on behalf of the shipping company. On presentation of any of the three
originals (along with appropriate payment), the master or authorized person has to turn over the
goods to the consignee or delegated party.
Types of B/Ls
1) Straight Here the consignment is made directly to the overseas customer or other
entrusted agent to further handle the goods.
2) Order
This B/L is negotiable, meaning that it can be bought, traded, or sold. There is
no designated consignee, but rather an agent which is to be notified upon
arrival of the goods. The agent is responsible for properly identifying to the
carrier the right to pay for and pick up the goods. If the agent or overseas
customer is unable to pay, the carrier (after notifying the shipper and a
certain amount of time has expired) has the option to sell the B/L (and thus
the goods) to an interested party. The transfer of title is completed when the
carrier endorses the B/L to the respective agent or buyer.
3) Through This B/L is issued by the freight forwarder or carrier, and covers the contract
of carriage for all primary and intermodal carriers used in the shipment from
point of origin to destination.
Under the OOCL standard Bill of Lading, the following sections are outlined:
Sections
1-2:
3:
4:
5-6:
7:
8:
9:
10:
11:
12:
At the moment, OOCL Deutschland has the following spread for inland intermodal container
transport: 40% Truck, 30% Rail, and 30% Barge (source: Richter). The Rhein serves as a major
waterway in effectively transporting goods in the West. Rail use is very convenient but is not
widely used in the East, where rail networks are not as advanced and developed. I had expected
truck usage to be higher here in Germany (and Europe in general) considering the small
geographic size of the continent. However when considering the higher price of petrol and diesel
fuel in Europe, I could understand part of the reason why.
two hours after departure, and update ITS. An additional Meldeschein has to be filled out
and mailed to the port authorities by the latest the next business day.
For Hamburg, some of these functions including the arrival and departure reports are handled
by a sub-contractor, DELTA Klarierungs-GmbH.
Container Announcement List (CAL) Preparation: After the booking deadline, a MC goes
into the ODS Report System to find the CAL, then exports this into Excel and prints it out.
Next, the MC compares the CAL to the final booking lists received from the booking offices
and looks for (followed by settling) discrepancies including: Missing or non-corresponding
container numbers, cancellations and additional bookings, unspecific cargo dimensions, and
details on temperature sensitive cargo. After this is complete, the MC must print a Load
Confirmation (LC), verbally confirm with the Terminal Operator on the figures and send
them the LC. Finally, the MC must review the DG manifest and ensure that all DG
documents are available and are reported to the Port Authorities.
Container Booking Forecast and Planning: this involves the communication between OOCL
Bremen, London, and other Ship Operating Agents. A forecast must be made 1 week prior to
arrival and forwarded to all parties. This is needed for the applicable Ship Operating Agent
to correctly plan the stowage of containers upon initial loading. The details include the
number and size of full, reefer, and empty containers.
Port and Terminal Charges: here a MC gathers the figures for loading, discharging, and other
port usage charges in Hamburg and Bremerhaven. Then the MC enters this data into IRIS-2,
generates a job number, and forwards this info to the Terminal Operator by email. Later
when the office receives invoices from the terminal, these must be compared to the applied
terminal tariff and, when correct, be forwarded to Accounts Payable.
Some additional duties include the distribution of High-Security seals (for US bound
containers) to depots in Germany, and the compliance with ensuring proper Q-Seal fitting on
containers containing meat of cloven hoofed animals destined to USA or Japan.
Transshipment
This department handles the further shipment of containers arriving in Germany destined for
Scandinavia and the surrounding region. This is done by booking on OOCLs three ships on
the Scandinavian-Baltic Express Line (SBX1 and SBX2) which cover the northern cities of
St. Petersburg, Gdansk (Poland), and Hamina (Finland). Containers bound for other cities
will be booked by the transshipment staff to partner feeder (small vessel) companies.
Further details are found in Section II: Transshipment.
With Merchant Haulage, Customer Service needs only to release the container to the client
who will make their own arrangements for transport from the port to their location of choice.
With Carrier Haulage, OOCL handles port customs and Customer Service contacts the
Transport department to arrange for delivery of the container to the client. Documentation (in
either scenario) then handles the issuance of invoices to the client for the applicable services
rendered.
The last function, Cost Control, examines any excessive storage costs associated with the
container and bills the client appropriately. Demurrage is the condition when containers are
sitting too long in the port, whereas Detention is when the client is still in possession of the
container over the allowable window period of transport.
Sales
This department responds to rate enquiries and establishes sales contracts, which are
approved from the Territorial Trade Department in England. The procedure is as follows:
When a Sales Clerk receives a rate enquiry, they must note all details including container
size, type, description of cargo, origin and destination, and any applicable DG, reefer, or
awkward size info. If available, any competitive rates mentioned by the client are also noted.
All this is documented on a standard Quotation Sheet form or in the reply section of the
customers email/fax.
The Territorial Trade Departments establish the rates given based on Conference and
Alliance membership. Sales Clerks, when looking up quotations, go onto OOCL InfoNet and
look up rates according to the service route in question. For any rates that arent covered in
InfoNet, the Territorial Trade Department must be contacted for further advice.
When a preliminary rate offer is found, it must be notified to the client by the following day.
Prior to booking, the Sales Clerk must either make a CSO input into IRIS-2 which in turn
sends a rate request to the Conference & Pricing Department in the Territorial Trade office,
or call them personally to get rate approval. The Sales Clerk should periodically check
during the day if the rate has been approved. Once it is, the clerk can begin booking for the
client. If however, the rate is not approved, the sales clerk must contact the client and offer
other possible alternatives, and the rate approval process starts again.
For sales contracts that involve a specific amount of tonnage over a time period, the rate
establishment procedure is the same as outlined above, although presumably more care is
taken to negotiate and accommodate the needs of the customer. In these contracts, OOCL
cannot apply a penalty to the client for shipping under the agreed tonnage/time interval unless
the applied trade route is TAN.
On a personal note, I found the need to confirm all rate contracts with England sort of
degrading on the ability of OOCL Germany to make wise and profitable sales contracts on its
own. However, when considering the thin margins on containerized transport today and the
nature of conference/alliance participation, I can understand the need for centralized rate
decision making. But I imagine the sub-status effect is the same on all country offices
outside England, China, and to a lesser degree in N. America.
Traffic
This department can be described as the circulatory system of OOCL Germany. It acts as the
conductor for the volume of shipments that England allocates Germany, that it then divides
and allocates among the individual booking offices.
This department is further described in Section III: Traffic.
Marketing
Although this department may officially exist, it practically does not. The business function
applied is rather a combination of public relations and promotions. My boss in Traffic,
Martina Falk, was in charge of promotional activities and giveaways which amounted to the
level of marketing done by the company. This budget for all European countries is controlled
and appropriated by the London office.
I had wondered why there wasnt much a focus on marketing, and had to consider the
position of the carrier to the end customer in the service chain. Since most all shipments go
through freight forwarders, they would be our target customer. Since ocean freight shipment
Flow Control
This department manages the planning, coordination, and a balanced supply of empty
containers among the various container depots in Germany. To achieve this, they work
closely with the Transport department.
This business function, I have learned, has become a big headache to carriers in general. The
problem is the issue of having containers available and close to the client in addition to the
desire that containers when shipped somewhere, are delivered back to the harbor full. The
transport cost for an empty container eats at the revenue just made.
Upon considering the situation, I wondered where a solution could be. At the moment it is
not possible to correctly book specific containers for re-use by another client in the next week
whose proximity to the container discharge point would be feasible and cost-effective. Could
an IT solution solve this? Possibly. If we say that we make a 7 day window for clients to
unload their container, whereby we then deliver that to the closest customer that needs it, it
could be possible. Cancellations would free that container up again. If the client takes longer
than 7 days to unload, the IT system could find another container or notify a human agent to
handle the situation further.
With OOCL at the moment, we have a lot of clients that use containers to export from Nord
Rhein Westphalen, Hessen, Baden-Wrttemberg, and Bayern. There arent however enough
containers coming into the country that are shipped to that region. A large proportion of
imported containers stop at Hamburg and Bremerhaven because the overseas client is
unfamiliar with the German geography and figures since the country is small anyway, the
client can take charge of the shipment from the port. The container then might be unloaded
by the client/forwarder and that cargo is re-consolidated to go south. The container stays in
Hamburg.
As one can see, its a difficult situation that cannot be easily handled by IT. I found this
subject quite interesting as it is an industry-wide equipment supply problem.
Claims
This department works with claims on damages to containers and to cargo. Personnel must
fill out a claims form and after the process of investigation, determine who is responsible and
liable for damages and for repair costs. The following questions are raised to aid the inquiry.
1) What, when, where, and under whose custody did the damages occur?
2) What are the financial costs and which insurance coverage is available?
Additionally, all relevant documentation and data reports are examined to further assess
liability.
Information Technology
The heart of all transactions and inter-communication between regional headquarters, country
offices, and among various departments are ran though the companys extensive IT system. The
system is based in Hong Kong and serves operations the world over.
It is divided into three sections based on function.
OOCL-Internet
This is for general information for potential clients wishing to learn more on OOCL and its
products and services, as well as clients looking for sailing schedules, news, and shipment
tracking among other things.
OOCL-Infonet
This is the company intranet for employees, where they can learn about news, departments,
notifications on events, procedure and software manuals, and access EDI and reporting
systems among many other functions.
IRIS-2
This is the backbone for all transactions entered, and stands for Integrated Regional
Information System. Through using this system, verbal and written communication between
departments regarding daily transactions and work is kept to a minimum while being highly
effective. The size and extent of functionality of IRIS-2 is quite amazing. Departments
though only need a certain amount of functions that is applicable to their work. Thus the
interface is customizable to where only desired functions are displayed. See Attachment M
for a view of the IRIS-2 main menu.
II: Transshipment
Introduction
I started my internship in February by beginning what was planned to be a three month stay in
Transshipment. I was formally introduced to my three colleagues and learned about their
respective duties. My boss was Jochen Allers, who along with Hermann Hillebrandt, managed
the booking of containers between the SBX service and the other service routes offered in
Hamburg. I was assigned to work with Markus Jungmann, who was responsible for booking
outbound containers from motherships in Bremerhaven and Hamburg to cities that are not
covered by our SBX service.
My goals in Transshipment were to practically learn about our flow of operations and the interrelationships between us and other departments, offices, and 3rd parties.
I stayed in Transshipment until the last week of March, when I moved to Traffic.
company that operates one or more port terminals. For IMO containers, a DG-Declaration and
Packing Certificate have to be forwarded to the terminal (if not already available, booking office
is contacted), while for reefer containers a cooling order must be sent so that the specified
container will be connected and be set at the proper temperature while in the port. After all is
done, Transshipment will receive a load/discharge report from the Stevedore which is then
reviewed to find containers that werent loaded and follow up on their shipment status. Jochen
handles outgoing containers coming from eastern SBX cities that need to transfer in Hamburg to
outgoing motherships, while Hermann handles container loading from incoming motherships in
Hamburg to eastern SBX cities.
Although I was not involved with booking/notification of SBX ships, I observed that timing,
planning and coordination were the main aspects of Jochen and Hermanns tasks. Other aspects
of their work included contacting the ships, receiving updates on arrival/departure times and
weather conditions, and relaying this information to all interested parties. Veterinary products
also have to be declared and have their documentation forwarded on time. Another task is the
review of terminal load/discharge reports for accuracy and be forwarded to accounting.
My Tasks
My responsibility was in the handling of Public Feeder shipments. I began by observing Markus
Jungmann and how he found containers to transship, booking them with various partner
companies, forwarding them the necessary documentation and shipment details by email, and
completing the process. After much attention to what was said on the phone when booking, I was
encouraged and began booking containers on my second day. The process in the beginning was
much about learning, reading materials, asking questions, and helping out in the various stages of
the process.
After enough time and confidence, I began the work process on my own while sending a carbon
copy of all email notifications to Markus so that he could correctly identify any mistakes along
the way. The following describes the standard process of Transshipment.
First, we would regularly receive an updated weekly schedule from Marine Operations showing
the arrival and departure times for all ships coming into Bremerhaven and Hamburg (Attachment
A). With this, we would use the details on each ship (service route, ship name, voyage number,
direction) to pull a Container Summary Report at least two days before arrival in Germany. I
went onto the InfoNet by typing in webplaza in Internet Explorer, going to ODS Reports,
Inbound Document, then FDR 161 CSR. Here I would enter the information from the
applicable ship and issue a request for download. While waiting, I could enter additional ships
and request their reports as well. Once the requisitions were ready, I downloaded them and
imported them into Excel. Once here, I would run a macro that would sort the entire report into
only containers that are destined to Scan-Baltic cities not covered by our SBX service. This
included Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland (other than Hamina), Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania,
and Poland (other than Gdansk). I then sorted the rows by final destination and deleted all
columns other than the following in this order:
FND / FND country / container number / container size/type / Bill of Lading number / Consignee / Facility Code POD
FND stands for Final Destination, whereas POD means Port of Discharge. I then would add the
following columns on the right side of the spreadsheet: Job number / Vendor / Feeder
(vessel/voyage) / and Contact Agents Name. Finally I inserted a Header with the city name at
the top left (Bremerhaven, Hamburg), the ships details in the center, and the arrival date/time on
the right. This report is then saved, printed, and placed in a clear portfolio.
Next I would have to review the CSR to what IRIS-2 says should be transshipped. For this I
would go into IRIS-2, Browse Vessel Voyage, enter the voyage code and discharge port,
request display (see Attachment B), then compare the data. For discrepant or missing containers,
I would go into Shipment Enquiry, enter the booking number and see if the container was
loaded onto the ship destined for Germany. If so, I would add the container and its details to the
CSR. If unsure, I would ask my colleagues for further assistance. Additionally, I would highlight
on the CSR which containers are reefer or contain DG.
With the reviewed CSR, I would now fill in the vendor column based on the containers
respective destination. For this, I would look at a sheet (for either Bremerhaven or Hamburg) that
shows which vendor to use. This chart is assembled based on current vendor rates for the
applicable route, and service availability. Our primary public feeder partners are Teamlines,
Unifeeder, with other shipments carried by Olloman Logistik and Estonian Shipping Company
among others.
I would then look for a release report from Inbound Customer Service in Copenhagen for all
containers destined for Denmark along with the transport mode to be used. The issue is that some
containers might need to be released to be picked up by truck in Hamburg while others will need
transshipment per public feeder. With this list, I note on the CSR which Danish bound containers
should not be booked. How these containers are released is discussed later.
Before calling a public feeder, I would note which agents I would need to speak to (variable on
city) and the number of applicable containers. When on the phone I would mention to the agent
the destination city I needed, the name and arrival time of the incoming mothership, and the
number and type of containers. The agent would then advise me the name of the ship that would
be used in addition to the departure and arrival time. These details I would note in the Feeder
column of the CSR. Lastly, I would note the name of the agent in the Kontakt and end the call.
For an example CSR, see Attachment C.
At this point, the booking is made but not yet official in the system. What I needed to do now
was go into IRIS-2, Find Routed Shipments, select inbound intermodal, enter the ship/voyage
details, highlight the applicable containers, and select create job order. This would bring up the
Job Order screen upon which I review the details of the order including containers, selected
vendor, and destination. Upon confirmation, a screen would display wherein I would send a copy
of the job order to my email inbox. Finally, a job order number would be displayed on the screen
which I then noted on the CSR for the respective containers.
Next, I would go to my Inbox and find all the job orders I had just created. These emails
contained the content and shipment details for all containers specified in that job order. At the
top of the email, I would include the following information: POL to POD, feeder vessel name,
departure/arrival dates, and the quantity/type of container(s). If the container was going to be
loaded from CTA Terminal in Hamburg, I would have to identify that and note the ATB numbers
for each container. Since CTA Terminal is located outside the Free Trade Zone, all incoming
containers here must be registered with the customs authorities and will receive an ATB number.
The Public Feeder thus needs this number to further freight each container from CTA. Lastly, I
would also forward the respective IMO documentation for any DG containers. This sent email
confirms and finalizes the transshipment order. An email copy is sent to the respective shipping
agents in the destination country as well as to Markus. See Attachment L for ex. Email, and
Attachment D for ex. IMO documentation.
For containers that are bound for Baltic States, I would need to additionally pull freight manifests
and fax them to the receiving shipping agency. I would do this by going into webplaza, ODS
Reports, Inbound Documents, and FDR 800. After submitting a request, I would later go to
the printer by the Reception to pick up the manifests and then fax them to the respective office(s).
See Attachment E for an example.
To complete the standard process of booking containers to be shipped per public feeder, I would
print the job order emails from my sent items folder, and place them in the plastic folio behind
the CSR for every ship. To observe or make any changes in the shipment routing of a container
(as can happen with overbooked feeders), we use Edit Shipment Route (Attachment O).
Any containers with meat products having their first European Port of Landing in Germany have
to be inspected by the port veterinarian. For motherships coming into Bremerhaven, I would
have to fill out an Excel spreadsheet (Attachment F) with container and temperature details from
Shipment Enquiry in IRIS-2 (Attachment G), and send this spreadsheet to the port
veterinarians email.
Containers that are destined for Denmark but will be picked up by truck from Hamburg, are then
released over the HHLA Internet Portal. I do this by going to the Hamburger Hafen und
Lagerhaus AG (HHLA) website, to COAST, enter the respective port, login under OOCL, and
choose Freistellungen (Releases). I then refer to my release report from Denmark (Attachment
H) and enter the following information: reeder name, container number/type, and consignee. The
release report would then be faxed back to Denmark.
Besides the organization and filing away of completed ships, I would also occasionally go
through the terminal load/discharge invoices and verify for accuracy. When correct, I would
create a job order for this invoice, note the job order on the bill, keep one copy for filing, and the
original is then given to accounting for payment. The invoices were almost always correct, but
sometimes there were discrepancies upon which I would inform Jochen who would further handle
the matter. An example Terminal Invoice can be seen in Attachment I.
Issues/Problems
Listed are some of the types of issues/problems I noticed my department faced in the normal
course of operations:
III: Traffic
Introduction
In the last week of March, I moved over to the Traffic department in order to gain a new
perspective on operations in Bremen. Here I was introduced to my two immediate
colleagues Martina Falk and Joerg Goldstein, and a top manager Herr Ralph Abel.
Martina briefed me on the nature of what I would be doing here in Traffic and what my
immediate tasks would be. Upon starting, my goals were somewhat undefined due to my
insufficient knowledge on Traffic operations. I felt I would learn along the way and be
helpful and to assistance where I could be.
Department Activities and Responsibilities
The work nature was examining booking allocations from England for every ship and
further allocating this space among the German booking offices, making revisions up
until date of sailing. Both Martina and Joerg are Traffic Coordinators. While both have
many years experience in Traffic, Martina is also involved in Marketing/Promotions
while Joerg is more of the Smart Traffic Coordinator with a passion for Mathematics.
The process starts with the Territorial Trade Dept. (TTD) in England quarterly updating
the IRIS-2 Static Allocation (SA) system with total allocation figures for each country.
From an activation sheet showing the vessel name/voyage number for all weeks and
services, we activate bookings for all ships in a given week for Germany. The total
allocation is initially split up by offices according to a defined template in IRIS-2. Once
done, this allows all booking offices in Germany to begin booking for that ship three to
four weeks ahead of sailing.
For the next three weeks then, the current booking versus prospect status for each ship is
reviewed by a Traffic Coordinator who looks at the total TEU and Tonnes allocated (for
Germany and the offices), how much is booked thus far for each office, and how much is
prospected to be booked by the sailing date of the ship. This review is drawn up on IRIS2, printed out, revised by the TC, updated in IRIS-2 by myself, and placed back in the
stack for that week. This update is done every two days, except on the last week before
sailing where it is done daily. An additional overview, which we started to use later in
my stay, was the Traffic Hourly Adjusted Monitoring & Enquiry System (THAMES)
which is accessible via InfoNet.
The process of revision and updating allocations involved the TC calling the local offices
and speaking with the Prospect/Nomination Clerk (P/NC) about their TEU/Tonne figures,
and calling the TTD and advising them of current status and allocation needs. The TC
can then re-allocate the booking office allocations to establish a balanced distribution on
total German figures among offices with high and low bookings/prospects. These
changes must be verbally advised to the affected P/NCs, and are accordingly updated in
IRIS-2.
When booked space/tonnage figures exceed total allocation to Germany, the TC must
contact TTD and discuss further options. If the figures are over allocation, TTD will try
and accommodate Germany by looking at other countrys bookings/prospects and see if
their allocations could be reduced and given to Germany instead. When TTD only partly
confirms an allocation increase, each office is advised on reviewing the necessary cargo
based on the following criteria: VIP accounts, High contribution cargo, and the
proportion of required additional allocation to that offices entire allocation.
If allocation increases are not possible, the TC must advise the P/NC at overbooked
offices on nominating containers for shut out/transfer, and give a time frame to do so.
The P/NC at the Sales office must then nominate cargo based on the following criteria:
The P/NC relays to the TC then this nomination list, which will reflect order of priority
for shipment. After finalizing arrangements with the local P/NC, the TC may then
forward this list to Marine Operations in Bremen, Rotterdam, or Antwerp. The
overbooked cargo is then either delayed until the following week for shipment or is
moved onto another vessel/service bound for the same city. As storage costs increase per
day, the best effort is made to ensure containers are shipped on schedule. As soon as
cargo is confirmed by the Port Office as not being shipped, the P/NC must call the
customer and inform them of the nominated cargo and offer alternatives. A CSU Clerk is
then notified on what shipping arrangements had been made, and revise booking to
reflect this change.
When regional bookings are short of allocation, the TC will adjust the extra allotment
among other booking offices where needed. If other booking offices cannot completely
absorb this surplus, the TC must be relay this to TTD so that they can reduce the total
German allocation and re-allocate this among other nations that may need more space.
Once a ship has sailed, the prospect and booking numbers in IRIS-2 will receive final
revisions over the following three weeks to match prospects to actual booking numbers
and reflect regional changes to IRIS-2 that were not immediately made after the sailing
date.
One final necessary task is the update of the Datenbank Bremische Hfen (DBH), or the
Bremen Harbor Database. This is discussed in the following section.
My Tasks
My responsibilities in Traffic were primarily the activation of ships for
allocation/booking, the update of TEU/Tonnage allocations and prospects, and the
entering of ships into the DBH.
With activation of ships, it was a matter of looking at the week/service spreadsheet
(activation sheet) which would tell you the ship/voyage number in a table. Every week
we update this schedule for the upcoming weeks by querying IRIS-2 in Browse Vessel
Schedule under the service route, and note this on the activation sheet.
We begin by activating, once a week, all ships for booking four weeks ahead of arrival.
The two IRIS-2 functions I use are Find Allocation and Browse Allocation. I take
the ship/voyage number and query IRIS-2 to see if it is available yet. If so, I open
Germanys empty allocation table, go copy template from which then opens a window
to find the ship whose template is needed. Usually we select the template of the previous
weeks ship on this route. Sometimes due to allocation changes, the templates
TEU/tonnage figures are above or below what has been actually allocated from TTD.
Since I was unfamiliar with appropriate allocation numbers to give, I asked for Martina
or Joergs advice when the figures were disparate. When the template matched
allocation, I selected activate voyages to complete the process and allow booking for
this ship by all offices.
Next was the continuous update of all ships booking/allocation sheet (B/AS) for the
window of 3-4 weeks, and for final updates on departed ships. After activating a ship, we
would also print out an initial B/AS to start a new weekly stack. I would give these new
printouts to Joerg, three at a time, who would then speak with the various parties and
handed them back to me with updated figures. I would then update IRIS-2 with the new
allocation figures, make a new printout, and call up the next ship.
This cycle of printing and updating constituted my primary work. At the same time
though, there is quite a bit of calculation needed in the process when trying to match total
figures allocated. Sometimes the number of 20s and 40s allocated were fixed, making the
distribution totals difficult to add up to the correct allocation needed. In times of
difficulty, I asked one of my colleagues for help.
The last major task was updating the DBH system. In a binder in the office, we have
listed the outgoing ships for various routes along with their vessel code, arrival/departure
time, and the ship number. I would have to update this schedule weekly with new ships
for the upcoming weeks, and revise arrival/departure times in the binder according to new
dates in IRIS-2. This I would do by looking at the activation sheet for ships, checking
Browse Vessel Schedule, then used Find Vessel (Attachment N) to obtain the vessel
code, and filled all this data in. I would add one ship for all the service routes in the
binder.
I would then use NetMeeting to call into the DBH system, enter the login info, and
proceed to the ship schedule screen where all incoming/outgoing ships in Bremerhaven
are registered. Since OOCL is part of the Grand Alliance, we have an entry for all
Alliance ships that is entered by Hapag-Lloyd. With each new entry, the assigned ship
receives a unique ship number. This number is given by the reeder to clients/forwarders
who need to electronically notify/submit data to the DBH for that ship. The issue is
though, that Hapag-Lloyd may not be quick enough to update the ship schedules which
can then lock out clients from entering data on time. To circumvent this, OOCL makes a
duplicate entry for all ships to ensure its customers can access DBH when needed. I
would enter in new ships in DBH along with their arrival/departure dates and note
whether this ship notification is for import or export. When confirmed, I would note the
ship number assigned and enter this into the binder. Before exiting DBH, I would ensure
all necessary schedule updates for previously entered ships had been made. Sales and
Customer Service personnel would then occasionally come over to Traffic and copy
pages from our binder so they could pass on the appropriate ship number to forwarders
and clients.
Other than these three primary tasks, I had helped twice in the translation of client
notification letters from German into English. These letters notified clients of changes in
tariffs and new procedures/laws that directly affected our policies and rates given.
Issues/Problems
At one point, I began wondering what kinds of issues and problems my colleagues faced
in the course of their daily activities besides the daily re-arranging of allocation figures
between Germany and the regional offices. I asked my Personnel Manager what I could
do to aid in this process, and he presented the idea of building questionnaires that I would
then give to Martina and Joerg to better understand the finer details of their work. These
are shown in Attachments J and K.
Some of the pertinent questions, which I will answer in English, are as follows:
Questionnaire #1
Q:
A:
What (if anything) do you sometimes find frustrating in your work? Why?
Insufficient and/or too late info from LON (London), i.e. last minute allocation drops
mean more effort to contact and check with Customer Service Units (CSUs), etc.
Q:
A:
Which trade routes do you find sometimes troublesome? Which are the easiest?
TAN (Trans Atlantic Trade) are troublesome because there are few re-booking
possibilities especially in light of the 24 hours rule. TAG also gives issues as it requires a
lot of moving cargo here and there. AET route is easy because there are many loops with
the same ports, and no contract customers.
Q:
In relation to the question above, are there particular large clients with whom we
routinely have data/booking problems? Please name a few, and their trade route.
AET Timber ex Austria: often large shortfalls at the last minute no chance to move the
cargo. STRATCOM (explained below): always have to be loaded and in whatever
quantity, although these are the worst-paying clients. Applicable for all loops.
A:
The second question above made me inquire more into the 24 hour rule and its effects.
The issue is that the United States has a new law as of December 2002 that requires
customs declarations be turned in at latest 24 hours before vessels leave the POL; this
resulted in much quicker response time needed for all parties to international trade to the
U.S.
One effect on OOCL was to hire four additional employees in Bremen. Another U.S. law
impacting carriers was the requirement of affixing high security seals upon all containers
destined for the U.S. The carriers can choose what kind of seal theyd like to use, but
must install a strict control procedure of the storage, distribution, affixation, and disposal
of the seals. This direct effect I had noticed was the tariff increase to all U.S. bound
containers.
Still on question two, upon questioning Martina on TAG, the issue is this: Although we
allocate booking to offices for the GEX2 service, cargo can also be moved around
between the different services in Rotterdam and Antwerp, thus making more space for rebooking on our service. Although a bit complicated, it involves more than just this.
Martina further explained that such allocation changes reflect a lack of
farsightedness/planning. Every allocation change spells much work to be expended by
Customer Service and Traffic.
For the third question, I needed to found out what STRATCOM was. Martina explained
this as large global accounts for strategic commodities including: auto parts, chemicals,
pharmaceuticals, alcohol, and merchandise for large department stores. These clients
always had to have their transport demands met although they pay the lowest rates in
their contracts with us.
Questionnaire #2
Q:
A:
Q:
A:
Q:
Considering the frustration with LON regarding insufficient/late info, what do you
believe is the root problem and how would you solve it? *Being the intermediary, is
there anything you believe you could do to improve the situation?
Problem: Insufficient staff knowledge in LON over the work in the region. Solution: local
training which can show which departments/divisions are affected. Problem: bad internal
communication in LON (Marine Operations and Traffic), and bad external
communication (ex: late info from Grand Alliance Partners). Solution: a global Grand
Alliance Database.
*LON headquarters takes over this function; no opportunity for change from our behalf..
Where do you believe the problems we face with STRATCOM/other stem from?
Equipment shortage, inability to respond in time to customer requirements, short relay
from clients to OOCL on actual shipments? Do you believe agents in STRATCOM have
the ability to better advise or work with their clients in order to achieve higher
satisfaction and turnout?
STRATCOM is cheap-shipped cargo that is always protected from the top because of
prestige and global reasons. STRATCOM clients always expect 150% service, without
paying for it.
How have the operations of OOCL Logistics and CargoSmart affected the course of your
work: Positive, Negative, Neutral?
A:
OOCL Logistics: neutral, since 99% of it is AET and doesnt affect Traffic.
CargoSmart: Positive: Clients can check/enter a lot of info on their own without CSU.
Negative: Garbage-in Garbage-out; i.e. wrong schedule information in IRIS-2 is also
passed on to clients. Re-booking is not as easy.
From the first question, I hoped to learn what the problem and aggravation toward
London was about. I had learned from my Personnel Manager that the underlying
problem was the lack of trained/knowledgeable staff in London that were sufficiently
regionally aware of the trade volumes and issues from other European OOCL offices.
However, communication problems as mentioned above, existed as well. The notion of a
global Grand Alliance database made sense and would seem to help all affected parties be
more aware of the current schedule status. Administration for this would naturally be in
England, with various access functions given to the national offices.
In regards to the second question, I learned that STRATCOM clients are spoiled but have
to be so because of the volume of trade they give us and the weight their company name
carries. This is the same for any business.
The last question was meant to see if the operations of the subsidiary companies had any
direct impact on Traffic operations. The answer was no; but particular benefits and
disadvantages from Martinas view helped me to understand their relationship to OOCLs
operations.
From work experience, I brought my skills from a few telemarketing/sales jobs I have
had and applied these to my activities in Transshipment. This involves organization of
duties in priority, calling and establishing rapport with clients, and completing tasks in a
timely manner. For traffic, I used data entry skills I had used in past jobs.
allocation numbers among the services, and the different issues that affect the operations
of Traffic. Certainly not something I could easily observe and understand from my work
alone. In addition, I felt like there wasnt much attention paid to me to teach me
something new or observe how a process/procedure works. In May, I was advised to ask
my colleagues some questions that would help me better understand the nature of their
work. Doing this had greatly helped me understand the issues that Traffic had to deal
with and the nature of their work. A problem though, was my work (data entry) hadnt
changed although I better understood the work of the department. I still felt
underutilized, unmotivated and that there was nothing much I could do about it. I could
work quickly, but if I did, I would often have to wait until updates are given back to me
which leaves me only with more idle time. I know now that I should have recognized
and communicated my feelings earlier so that possibly I could have done my last six
weeks in another department. I did not though, and the issue was presented to me and I
am thankful that it was. The last three weeks I was released early to finish my internship
report
In all, I must say that I had an incredible time working at OOCL. I feel like I
accomplished my main goal of learning about the ocean freight transport industry and
how efficient German organizations are run. Although I had expected more
responsibilities and attention in the latter half of my stay, while the organization expected
more self-initiative from me, it was a great learning experience that will definitely
prepare me for my final year of university and another internship next year, wherever that
may be. I will take with me the knowledge I picked up here, into my continued studies
and career path.
Attachments
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B)
C)
D)
E)
F)
G)
H)
I)
J)