Amazon Enters Trillion Dollar Ocean Freight Business

Amazon Enters Trillion Dollar Ocean Freight Business

Amazon doesn't want to have to rely on (and pay) third-party delivery companies. It's already taken control of lorries and planes and now it's taking control of ships, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

Specifically, the Seattle-headquartered ecommerce giant has started handling the shipment of goods from Chinese retailers that sell on its platform to its vast US warehouses. Previously it left this to global freight-transportation companies.

Since October, Amazon has helped to ship some 150 containers of goods from China to the US, according to The Wall Street Journal, which cites shipping documents collected at ports of entry. "Amazon has integrated all those services into one basket," said Steve Ferreira, chief executive of Ocean Audit, in the report. He noted that, for Amazon, creating this type of shipping service will give it "a lot of strategic value." Shipping is a trillion dollar industry, according to MIT Technology Review. While Amazon doesn't actually own any ships itself, it has started reserving space on ocean vessels and acting as a global freight operator and logistics organiser. Other freight operators include, DHL, FedEx and UPS.

Last August, Amazon unveiled its first branded cargo plane, one of 40 jetliners that will make up the company's own air-transportation network. Amazon also has its own fleet of branded delivery trucks and it is testing delivery drones in a field just outside Cambridge, UK. Amazon shipped over a billion items over the 2016 holiday season alone. Amazon's China rival Alibaba recently tied up with Maersk Line, offering customers dedicated space and prices on the Danish carrier's ships.