shipwaves.com

What It Is

Shipwaves describes itself as Asia’s first digital freight forwarder. Founded in 2015, it has offices in India and the UAE. The company provides end-to-end digital freight forwarding services for shippers, and also extends into enterprise logistics SaaS to help customers plan, book, and manage international shipments.

Core Capabilities

The platform covers Ocean FCL, Ocean LCL, Air Cargo, Land Transport, and multimodal transport, while also offering value-added services such as NVOCC, customs clearance, warehousing, insurance, and trade financing. On the digital side, it includes quick quotes, online booking, real-time visibility, digital documentation, and user dashboards. Its enterprise SaaS modules lean more toward supply chain management, including order management, rate procurement, RFQ, transportation planning, SKU/PO/container-level tracking, Document Central, Freight Auditor, PowerBI reporting, and predictive analytics.

Pricing and Fees

Public pricing is incomplete, with only a few sample routes shown, such as JNPT to Hong Kong from $20, to Jebel Ali from $50, and to Singapore from $10. The terms make clear that quotes are indicative and subject to final confirmation by third-party service providers, and that Shipwaves may adjust quotes due to changes in freight rates, taxes, fees, and other factors. It also reserves the right to charge listing fees, processing fees, and commissions. Bills of lading are usually issued only after full payment has been made.

Pros and Cons

The main advantage is that Shipwaves offers a relatively complete service chain, covering booking, transportation, tracking, documentation, and analytics, making it suitable for companies that want to reduce offline communication costs. Its enterprise SaaS capabilities are also more systematic than those of a typical freight forwarding website. The drawbacks are limited price transparency and no disclosed payment methods. Its terms repeatedly state that Shipwaves is primarily responsible for facilitating bookings, while responsibility for actual transportation, insurance, customs clearance, and related matters is often borne by third parties or the customer. Businesses should therefore review contractual risks carefully.

Who It’s For and Access from China

Shipwaves is better suited to cross-border e-commerce exporters, import/export trading companies, manufacturers, and mid-sized to large brands, especially those with shipping needs related to Indian ports, the UAE, or Asian routes. Access from mainland China, Chinese-language support, and local payment support are not specified in the available text, so their status is unknown. Chinese sellers looking for similar services may also compare Flexport, Freightos, DHL Global Forwarding, Maersk, or local cross-border freight forwarders.