GT Nexus announced that Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. ("K" Line), has renewed and expanded upon its agreement with GT Nexus. The eight-year relationship with GT Nexus has already delivered operational and customer-facing advantages for "K" Line. Increasingly, customers want their carrier partners to provide advanced IT services, which makes GT Nexus an important part of the "K" Line value proposition.

Founded in 1919, the "K" Line of today occupies a significant place in the worldwide container trade. It services 80 liner strings between the Asia and Europe, North America, Central and South America, Australia, South Africa and Middle East. Its fleet of 488 vessels including 99 container vessels, is among the most advanced in the world, and includes many new state-of-the-art containerships, tramp and specialized carriers, car carriers and tanker and gas carriers.

"We have been using GT Nexus for several years," said Kazuhiro Matsukawa, Deputy General Manager, Containerships Business Group at "K" Line. "We have seen tremendous operational value, and e-commerce leadership is something our customers see as a differentiator in the market. We are looking forward to continuing our strong relationship with GT Nexus."

"Big shipper customers view technology as a vital aspect of a carrier's service mix," said John Urban, president of GT Nexus. "With GT Nexus, "K" Line customers can use the technology platform that the world's biggest shippers use to monitor and manage their global supply chains."

The GT Nexus trade and logistics portal combines two things -- strategic business applications and a network of electronically integrated logistics partners. All services are delivered on-demand, over the Web, which allows customers to get up and running quickly, with minimal expense and fuss. Carriers integrate to the portal once, which allows them to support thousands of global customers through a single standardized interface.