Freight Forwarders Mitigate COVID-19 Ocean Shipment Disruptions Using Cloud-based Descartes Solution

Descartes Systems Group, the global leader in uniting logistics-intensive businesses in commerce, announced that freight forwarders, such as California’s Aqualine International and Puerto Rico’s E.T.H. Cargo Services, are improving their responsiveness to interruptions in the transport of ocean cargo due to COVID-19 by using Descartes’ cloud-based solutions to streamline back office operations, regulatory compliance, security filings, and global trade flow analysis.

“We provide freight forwarding services that cover all of the major ports in the world and have always done so as an office-based business,” said Makiko Yamamoto, Managing Director at Aqualine International. “Thanks to Descartes’ cloud-based forwarding solution with role-based access and document sharing capabilities, we transitioned the full organization to work-from-home in less than 24 hours with absolutely no disruption to customer shipments and taking into account an increase in essential products and medical supply shipments.”

“On top of facilitating remote work, Descartes’ cloud-based compliance solutions help keep us compliant with U.S. regulatory authorities by streamlining the customs declarations process for ocean shipments arriving in Puerto Rico, as well as the security filings we are required to file for shipments to Japan,” said Sascha Herzig, President at E.T.H. Cargo Services. “We’re also now using Descartes’ global trade intelligence solution to analyze dramatic fluctuations in shipping patterns so that we can monitor volumes with existing customers and identify new sales opportunities.”

Descartes provides forwarders with a comprehensive suite of cloud-based back office, regulatory compliance and global trade solutions. These solutions help forwarders operate effectively in a distributed environment, streamline operations, and meet security and declaration filing requirements. Descartes’ global trade intelligence solutions give forwarders a detailed view of worldwide shipping flows to understand customer and market activity to support sales efforts.

“We’re honored that our solutions are helping Aqualine and E.T.H. Cargo to improve control over shipment volatility, keep goods moving across borders, and enhance safety for employees,” said Scott Sangster, Vice President, Global Logistics Service Providers at Descartes. “As the effects of COVID-19 continue to alter shippers’ logistics and supply chains around the world, Descartes’s cloud-based solutions can help freight forwarders better manage the impact on their operations by digitizing workflows and providing advanced capabilities to expedite customs clearance, security filings and global trade intelligence.”