Maritime predictive risk analytics company Windward has launched Container Insights, building on the company’s current Cargo Insights service to add live screening and tracking of containers and B/L (bill of lading) verification.
The new functionality aims to increase the efficiency of screening processes for trade finance transactions and provides an option for government agencies to investigate suspicious containers, providing an overview of vessels, behaviours, companies, and containers.
As part of any due diligence process in a transaction, banks screen companies and vessels involved in prospective deals. Container numbers are included in the B/L and Letter of Credit (LC) but do not necessarily contain the vessel IMO number, which can make it difficult to fully vet the transaction.
Additionally, as part of anti-money laundering and fraud processes, banks must independently investigate and validate that those transactions indeed took place and were not used as methods of laundering money.
Windward’s Container Insights provides data and tracking information on any container of interest, connecting the container to vessels, locations, and entities to enable users to monitor the location of the container, its status, and expected and scheduled ETA, while also providing an independent validation capability for B/L verification.
“Windward is growing at an incredible pace. We are launching new capabilities, expanding our data sets, and continuously updating our behavioural models,” said Ami Daniel, CEO and Co-Founder of Windward.
“Maritime trade is multi-faceted and often stakeholders don’t have all of the insights they need to fully assess the risks involved. Risk insights for containers of interest and B/L verification are essential for any entity that deals with global trade to understand the full picture of who they’re conducting business with.”
