Interview: How can smart shipping containers make the industry greener?

The future of the Internet of Things (IoT) in the shipping industry is bright, Cédric Rosemont, newly appointed CEO of Traxens, a smart-container service provider for the global supply chain industry, says in an interview with Offshore Energy.

Rosemont is known for his expertise in the telematics and IoT market, his strong knowledge of the maritime sector, and his agile management of companies. 

Traxens is leveraging IoT technology to improve supply chain efficiency challenges by providing real-time tracking of goods. In line with the industry pace, the company is also working to apply new technologies to reduce the industry’s environmental impacts and improve container security.

One of the unique features of the Traxens platform is its door-opening detection capabilities. Namely, the platform is able to classify suspiciousness of door openings and alert in real-time the competent stakeholders to avoid illegal actions on containers thus helping solve security problems such as cargo theft and smuggling.

“Our vision is that in the 5 years to come, all major players will have to equip their whole container fleet to keep up with the market. The shipping industry’s digitalization will keep speeding up, opening up this deep market for Traxens’ growth. We plan to double our revenue in 2023, but for the next few years to come, we can’t wish for less than equipping our customers’ entire fleets: our current addressable market represents more than 11 million containers. This leaves us a lot of room for growth,” Rosemont said.

Traxens’ major investors include industry heavyweights such as CMA CGM, Maersk, and MSC. Speaking on the involvement of these major players in the shipping industry in Traxens’ development and growth, Rosemont said:

“Our shipping lines shareholders have strongly invested in Traxens over the years, and supported the company by becoming its major customers. This has of course helped us to grow, not only thanks to the financial support, but also with the opportunity of testing our products and getting great feedback on vast smart container deployments. Every year, we keep deploying more and more smart containers on their fleets with great perspectives of growth. Traxens is aiming to achieve full coverage of their fleets in the next 5 years, for which we are already preparing our systems through better scalability.”

The use of smart containers in shipping can lead to increased efficiency, reduced emissions, and improved sustainability in the supply chain, Rosemont explains.

Commenting on the subject, he pointed out four key areas where smart containers can help the industry:

1. Optimize shipping routes
2. Monitor and reduce waste
3. Container fleet management
4. Reduce carbon footprint

“By getting a better view of the routes used by a container shipment through geolocation and statistics generated by the collected data, smart containers can enable better coordination and selection of more efficient shipping routes, reducing fuel consumption and emissions,” he noted.

“They can monitor the transport conditions (temperature & humidity) of the goods they carry and our platform sends notifications whenever optimal conditions aren’t respected. This can help reduce spoilage and waste by taking action quickly whenever a problem occurs, by ensuring proper conditions, therefore, avoiding the need for unnecessary inspections, but also by gathering data to optimize these conditions (avoid certain zones, improve packaging, insuring humidity-reduction systems.)”

Smart containers also enable carriers to optimize the use of containers and reduce empty voyages. This can result in a reduction in the over-manufacturing of containers and ultimately, a lower carbon footprint for the shipping industry. They also offer insights about shipments’ carbon footprint to help to reduce it.

According to Rosemont, Traxens is also making its hardware meet the latest sustainability needs, such as making ATEX-compliant devices for green methanol-powered vessels and optimizing its tracker batteries.

Smart containers equipped with ATEX-certified components are considered to be safe for use in potentially explosive environments, providing peace of mind for those who rely on these containers for their day-to-day operations.

“The important part of having IoT devices ATEX compliant is that such devices will be able to be used on the next generation of methanol-powered (and other fuels) container ships. Due to the higher explosive potential of those environments, safety regulations on things like lithium-ion battery-powered devices are becoming stricter. Traxens is now leading that category with compliant IoT devices,” Traxens’ CEO said.