Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC) has launched Instant Quote, available online 24 hours a day, seven days a week via the myMSC e-business solution.
MSC said in its announcement Wednesday that Instant Quote complements its existing set of e-business tools, enabling customers to place and manage bookings, check vessel schedules, track shipments, access documents and get notifications.
“At MSC we recognize the importance of digitalization across the shipping industry,” it said. “For that reason we are continuously investing in and developing new technologies to make our services better for our customers.”
Lars Jensen, CEO of SeaIntelligence Consulting, said in an online post that it was “good to see” MSC joining an increasing number of container carriers offering instant quoting tools.
“Hapag-Lloyd AG and A.P. Møller – Maersk were the front-runners on this through their Quick Quotes and Maersk Spot and demonstrated a sharp ‘hockey-stick’ uptake last year and into this year. CMA CGM subsequently launched My Prices in 2019, Evergreen Line then followed with their Green X and ZIM Integrated Shipping Services with eZ Quote” in February, Jensen said.
He said the launch of Instant Quote “is not a development that is caused by the pandemic, but it is a development being accelerated in terms of uptake speed as many office closures for both shippers and carriers pave the way for an environment that is much more willing to go online than previously.”
MSC said through Instant Quote, customers can fill out requests and receive quotes in just seconds; choose from door, ramp or port; save, store and manage quotes within myMSC; and progress to booking in a matter of clicks.
Instant Quote currently is available for the Asia-to-Europe and North America-to-Europe trades. More trades will be added throughout the year, Geneva-based MSC said.
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Click for more FreightWaves/American Shipper articles by Kim Link-Wills.