Kestrel Liner Agencies, an ocean freight provider based in the UK and serving the U.S., Caribbean, and Latin America, has started offering capacity on the Haven Platform. Haven is a private marketplace for buying and selling ocean freight capacity.

The Haven Platform enables shippers to search, compare, and reserve slots across 10 leading ocean carriers at over 1,500 ports. Companies like Kestrel that offer capacity on the site use Haven’s technology to reach new customers and to streamline their operations. Traditional spot-rate negotiation between carriers and shippers often involves a chain of phone calls, faxes, and emails. Haven’s online marketplace streamlines the process by connecting shippers with carriers on a neutral platform. This facilitates a more efficient booking process.

Haven is part of a growing phenomenon of online tools, siuch as those from iContainers and Xeneta, that help shippers and freight forwarders research ocean carrier rates and get quotes.

Kestrel and other carriers use the Haven Platform to serve customers more efficiently, and to generate revenue from excess capacity. Haven charges a transaction fee per container and reservations are automatically uploaded to back-office systems. Shippers and freight forwarders can access the marketplace without a monthly commitment or any IT investment.