SHANGHAI -- A Chinese vessel with e-tagged containers sailed on Monday from Shanghai to Savannah port in the United States, marking the opening of the world's first international e-tagged container route.
The doorbell-sized e-tags installed on twenty-foot container equivalent units (TEU), will record information about every procedure in the TEU's whole transportation process, such as the delivery and off-loading time, the real-time TEU condition and the time and place of the legal or illegal opening.
The information will be transmitted through a wireless regional Web network to a website for monitoring. If a container is illegally opened enroute, the e-tag will automatically record the "intrusion" and present a red alarm signal on the Website.
The system will greatly enhance cargo safety over long sea journeys.
The vessel, "Ningbo", of the China Shipping Container Liners Co., Ltd, will arrive in Savannah, a major U.S. container port, in about one month.
