ZIM has developed and implemented an AI-based screening software that will detect and identify incidents of mis-declared hazardous cargo before loading onto a vessel.
The new ZIMGuard™ system scans shippers’ cargo declarations at an early stage and flags potential cases of wrongly declared cargo, according to ZIM. Additionally, the system harnesses artificial intelligence (AI), including natural language processing (NLP) capabilities and machine learning, to analyse documentation and alert operations personnel of occurrences of omission, concealment, or erroneous declaration of hazardous cargo – in real time.
The ZIMGuard system is already in use in major ports in China, the United States and Israel, is expected to be deployed on all ZIM lines by the end of 2020 and has already proven its efficacy, according to the Israeli shipping company, on numerous occasions of misdeclaration of hazardous cargo since its introduction.
“Since launching ZIMGuard, we were alerted to dozens of cases of mis-declared cargo. In view of ZIMGuard’s potential contribution to the safety of the global supply chain, ZIM is willing to commercially offer licensing of this system to parties who may be interested in utilising it,” commented Eli Glickman, ZIM president and CEO.
Captain Zadok Radecker, ZIM global hazardous and special cargos manager, in charge of cargo security, said, “The new system has proven to be effective and on target. It enables us to identify, investigate and clarify any issue prior to loading, ensuring the safety of the crew and ship, and the safety of the supply chain in general.”
