Day 1 — Foundations and Shipping Operations
Module 1: Introduction to Maritime Logistics and Supply Chain
- Defining supply chain management and logistics, and the strategic value of maritime logistics in global trade
- Key stakeholders: shippers, carriers, ports, forwarders, and customs authorities
- Practical Exercise: Map the maritime supply chain for one of your products from origin to destination
Module 2: Sea Transport and Shipping Operations
- Vessel types: container, bulk, tanker, and Ro-Ro; liner versus tramp shipping
- Route planning, scheduling, and network design, and the effect of route disruptions such as Red Sea and Suez diversions
- Chartering models and fuel management
- Practical Exercise: Compare two routing options for a sample shipment on cost, time, and risk
Day 2 — Ports and Trade Documentation
Module 3: Port Operations and Terminal Management
- Modern port and terminal functions, and cargo handling for container, bulk, break-bulk, and Ro-Ro cargo
- Terminal management systems, KPIs, congestion, and demurrage and detention
- Intermodal logistics and hinterland connectivity
- Practical Exercise: Identify the main port bottlenecks on one of your routes and propose fixes
Module 4: Trade Documentation and Customs Compliance
- Essential documents: bill of lading, waybill, commercial invoice, and packing list, and electronic bills of lading
- Duties, taxes, and import and export procedures; tariff classification (HS codes) and customs valuation
- Incoterms 2020 and trade facilitation
- Practical Exercise: Complete a sample document set and choose an Incoterms rule for a transaction
Day 3 — Freight and Inventory
Module 5: Freight Management and Transportation Planning
- Carrier selection, freight tenders, and pricing strategies
- Integrating maritime with road, rail, and air; multimodal and intermodal solutions
- Consolidation and reverse logistics
- Practical Exercise: Build a freight tender comparison for a sample shipment
Module 6: Warehouse Management and Inventory Control
- The role of warehousing in maritime supply chains
- Inventory techniques: just-in-time, economic order quantity (EOQ), and ABC analysis
- Visibility, material handling, and cross-docking
- Practical Exercise: Calculate an EOQ and an ABC classification from sample data
Day 4 — Risk and Digital Transformation
Module 7: Maritime Risk Management and Security
- Operational, geopolitical, sanctions, and cyber risks, and how to mitigate them
- Maritime security, cargo insurance essentials, and carrier liability
- Business continuity and contingency planning
- Practical Exercise: Build a risk register with mitigation actions for one trade lane
Module 8: Digital Transformation in Maritime Logistics
- Digital documents, data sharing, and where blockchain does and does not add value
- AI and machine learning in logistics optimisation, with human oversight and data protection
- Big data, automation, and smart shipping and port systems
- Practical Exercise: Identify two digital improvements for your supply chain and make a business case for each
Day 5 — Sustainability, Resilience and Action Plan
Module 9: Green Shipping and Sustainable Supply Chains
- Environmental impacts: emissions, waste, and pollution
- Decarbonisation of shipping: efficiency rules, alternative fuels, and the IMO Net-Zero Framework, whose adoption was postponed in October 2025
- Regional measures that affect shippers, such as the EU emissions trading system for shipping and FuelEU Maritime, and customers' reporting requirements (confirm current detail)
- Practical Exercise: Estimate the emissions of a sample shipment and list reduction options
Module 10: Resilience and the Future of Maritime Supply Chains
- Building agility and redundancy for global disruptions, and the effects of tariffs, nearshoring, and shifting trade patterns
- E-commerce impacts and next-generation technologies
- Case studies in transformation and resilience; action planning
- Practical Exercise: Design a resilience plan for one critical lane and present your action plan to the group
Day 1 — Introduction to Maritime Logistics and Supply Chain
Module 1: Introduction to Maritime Logistics and Supply Chain
- Defining supply chain management and logistics
- The strategic value of maritime logistics in global trade
- Key stakeholders: shippers, carriers, ports, forwarders, and customs authorities
- Cost structures, lead times, and the total landed cost
- Practical Exercise: Map the maritime supply chain for one of your products and calculate its landed cost
Day 2 — Sea Transport and Shipping Operations
Module 2: Sea Transport and Shipping Operations
- Vessel types: container, bulk, tanker, and Ro-Ro
- Liner versus tramp shipping operations
- Route planning, vessel scheduling, and network design, including the effects of route disruptions such as Red Sea and Suez diversions around the Cape
- Chartering models and fuel management
- Practical Exercise: Compare two routing options for a sample shipment on cost, time, and risk
Day 3 — Port Operations and Terminal Management
Module 3: Port Operations and Terminal Management
- Modern port and terminal functions
- Cargo handling: container, bulk, break-bulk, and Ro-Ro
- Terminal management systems and KPIs, congestion, and demurrage and detention
- Intermodal logistics and hinterland connectivity, with examples from South African and regional ports and corridors
- Practical Exercise: Identify the main port bottlenecks on one of your routes and propose fixes
Day 4 — Trade Documentation and Customs Compliance
Module 4: Trade Documentation and Customs Compliance
- Essential documents: bill of lading, waybill, commercial invoice, and packing list, and electronic bills of lading
- Duties, taxes, and import and export procedures, including customs valuation, rules of origin, and preferential trade agreements
- HS codes, Incoterms 2020, and trade facilitation
- South African customs framework, currently the Customs and Excise Act, and the 2014 Customs Control and Customs Duty Acts, whose commencement should be confirmed
- Practical Exercise: Complete a sample document set, classify goods, and choose an Incoterms rule for a transaction
Day 5 — Freight Management and Transportation Planning
Module 5: Freight Management and Transportation Planning
- Carrier selection and pricing strategies, including freight tenders and contracts
- Integrating maritime with road, rail, and air
- Multimodal and intermodal solutions, consolidation, and reverse logistics
- Practical Exercise: Build a freight tender comparison for a sample shipment
Day 6 — Warehouse Management and Inventory Control
Module 6: Warehouse Management and Inventory Control
- The role of warehousing in maritime supply chains
- Inventory techniques: just-in-time, economic order quantity (EOQ), and ABC analysis, and safety stock for long lead times
- Visibility, material handling, and cross-docking
- Practical Exercise: Calculate EOQ, reorder points, and an ABC classification from sample data
Day 7 — Maritime Risk Management and Security
Module 7: Maritime Risk Management and Security
- Identifying and mitigating operational, geopolitical, sanctions, and cyber risks
- Maritime security and cargo insurance essentials, and carrier liability
- Business continuity and contingency planning
- Practical Exercise: Build a risk register with mitigation actions for one trade lane and test it against a disruption scenario
Day 8 — Digital Transformation in Maritime Logistics
Module 8: Digital Transformation in Maritime Logistics
- Digital documents and data sharing, and where blockchain does and does not add value
- AI and machine learning in logistics optimisation, with human oversight and data protection
- Big data, automation, and smart shipping and port systems
- Practical Exercise: Identify two digital improvements for your supply chain and make a business case for each
Day 9 — Green Shipping and Sustainable Supply Chains
Module 9: Green Shipping and Sustainable Supply Chains
- Environmental impacts: emissions, waste, and pollution
- Sustainable shipping and green port initiatives, alternative fuels, and the IMO's greenhouse gas strategy and Net-Zero Framework, whose adoption was postponed in October 2025
- Regulatory compliance and corporate social responsibility, including regional measures such as the EU emissions trading system for shipping and FuelEU Maritime, and customers' carbon reporting (confirm current detail)
- Practical Exercise: Estimate the emissions of a sample shipment and compare reduction options
Day 10 — Resilience and the Future of Maritime Supply Chains
Module 10: Resilience and the Future of Maritime Supply Chains
- Building agility and redundancy for global disruptions
- The effects of tariffs, nearshoring, and new trade patterns
- E-commerce impacts and next-generation technologies
- Case studies in transformation and supply chain resilience
- Practical Exercise: Design a resilience plan for one critical lane and present your action plan to the group
The course instructor may adjust the programme for technical reasons, but the course objectives will always be met. Shipping markets, routes, and regulations change quickly, so examples are updated to current positions at delivery. The 5-Day Essentials is shown first; the 10-Day Advanced Programme follows.
