Supply Chain Visibility

Supply chain visibility is the ability to see where goods are, and when they will arrive, at each stage from origin to final delivery. For ocean freight it comes from the events that carriers, terminals and other parties record as a container moves, together with vessel position data and the shipment's documents.

Where the data comes from

• Carrier and terminal events: milestones such as gate in and gate out, load and discharge, transshipment, and pick-up and drop-off of the container
• Industry standards: the Digital Container Shipping Association (DCSA) publishes Track & Trace standards, with shared data definitions and APIs, so that container events can pass between carriers, forwarders and shippers regardless of platform. DCSA's own case for them is that event data is still often exchanged inconsistently, late or not at all
• AIS: under SOLAS regulation V/19, ships of 300 gross tonnage and upwards on international voyages carry an automatic identification system that broadcasts the ship's identity, position, course and speed. Shore stations and other ships use it to monitor and track vessels
• Documents: the booking confirmation, bill of lading and arrival notice each mark a step as well

Milestones worth watching on an import

• Booking confirmed and cargo cut-off met at origin
• Container gated in full and loaded on the vessel
• Transshipment, if the route has one, where delays often start
• Discharge at the US port, which is when the clock on free time typically begins, depending on the carrier and terminal
• Customs and freight release, then gate-out for delivery and the empty return

The costly surprises happen at the end: demurrage starts once the last free day at the terminal passes, and detention once the container is kept out past its free days, so a slipped ETA or a late release is worth knowing about days ahead.

Limits to keep in mind

• An ETA is an estimate and changes as the voyage goes on
• Events can arrive hours or days after they happen, and each carrier reports them differently
• A container number shows the box's moves, not its customs or payment status

Tools on this site

Shipments booked through Airlift can be followed on the container tracking page by container number or Airlift house B/L number. For anything else, the carrier tracking pages, such as Maersk container tracking, explain each line's own tracker. To plan ahead, the vessel schedule search and Sealanes show sailings and transit times by lane.