Zim introduces butterfly service

In a flurry of firsts, on August 14, the MV Vega Scorpio, a Zim vessel made its maiden voyage to Kingston to begin a new Central America-Caribbean service. On hand to welcome the vessel and present the master with a commemorative plaque was Captain Samir Ghosh, the new general manager of Zim’s local agent, Carib Star Shipping Limited.

Captain Ghosh hailed the new service “as dedicated to the people of Jamaica, particularly his customers”. Also attending the event were representatives of Rosh Marketing and GraceKennedy to welcome the captain and crew to Kingston vessels.

Captain Ghosh expects that in the short term, Zim will be expanding shipping and logistics in Jamaica as it increases landside services to the hinterland, and that this will result in greater ease for their customers. He pointed to other service improvements on the horizon in shipping, such as the recent introduction of the electronic bill of lading using block chain technology, which he expects to be a game changer in the shipping business. “Banks also need to accept the concept of blockchain,” he added, noting that the faster other service providers innovated, the smoother the transition to new technologies will be.

A feature of trade routes

Although new to Jamaica, Captain Ghosh is not new to shipping, with over 25 years of experience in shipping and logistics. Captain Ghosh has worked previously in the Dubai, Malaysia, the Indian subcontinent, and most recently in Hong-Kong. He explained the concept of the butterfly loop as one that has trade routes creating two loops and returning to the original destination. “The concept is quite common in the world of shipping,” he shared, explaining that butterfly loops were a feature of trade routes in several other parts of the world.