A container can move flawlessly through a vessel schedule and still arrive late to the customer, because the failure happened somewhere between the port gate and the warehouse door — a missed rail slot, a freight forwarder working from outdated information, a handoff nobody owned. Maritime Supply Chain performance is rarely broken by a single weak link; it's broken by the seams between shipping, ports, and inland logistics that nobody manages end to end. The Maritime Supply Chain Management Training Course, delivered by The British Academy for Training and Development, is built for professionals responsible for making that entire chain function as one system rather than a series of disconnected handoffs.

This course treats maritime supply chains as an integration challenge first, and a transport challenge second. Participants explore how logistics integration connects ocean carriers, terminals, and inland transport into a coordinated flow, how multimodal transport decisions affect cost, speed, and reliability across a shipment's full journey, and how freight forwarding fits into that chain as a coordination function rather than just a booking service. The course also covers supply chain optimisation in practical terms — where genuine efficiency gains exist across a maritime network, and where apparent savings in one stage simply create delay or cost somewhere else. Participants leave with a practical, systems-level understanding of maritime supply chain management they can apply directly to routing, carrier, and logistics partner decisions.

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Apply Maritime Supply Chain principles to manage shipping, ports, and logistics as one system
• Achieve genuine logistics integration across ocean, port, and inland transport stages
• Evaluate multimodal transport options for cost, speed, and reliability trade-offs
• Manage freight forwarding relationships as a coordination function, not just booking
• Apply supply chain optimisation techniques across a maritime logistics network
• Identify where handoffs between stakeholders create delay or hidden cost
• Coordinate effectively across carriers, terminals, and inland logistics providers
• Evaluate maritime supply chain performance using metrics that reflect true end-to-end outcomes

Target Group

• Supply chain and logistics managers working with maritime transport
• Freight forwarding and multimodal transport professionals
• Port and terminal coordinators working across the broader logistics chain
• Shipping line commercial and logistics professionals
• Procurement and operations professionals managing ocean freight
• Professionals transitioning into maritime supply chain management roles

• Foundations of Maritime Supply Chain Management
  • Why supply chain failures usually occur at the seams, not within a single stage
  • Managing shipping, ports, and logistics as one coordinated system
• Achieving Genuine Logistics Integration
  • Connecting ocean carriers, terminals, and inland transport into a coordinated flow
  • Overcoming information gaps that break integration between stakeholders
• Multimodal Transport Decision-Making
  • Evaluating rail, road, and sea combinations for cost, speed, and reliability
  • Structuring multimodal routing that avoids unnecessary handling and delay
• Freight Forwarding as a Coordination Function
  • Managing freight forwarders as active coordination partners, not just booking agents
  • Building forwarding relationships that improve visibility across the chain
• Supply Chain Optimisation in Practice
  • Identifying genuine efficiency gains across a maritime logistics network
  • Avoiding local optimisations that create cost or delay elsewhere in the chain
• Managing Handoffs and Stakeholder Coordination
  • Identifying where responsibility gaps between stakeholders cause disruption
  • Building coordination practices that keep cargo moving across every handoff
• Port and Terminal Integration Within the Supply Chain
  • Understanding how port and terminal performance affects the wider supply chain
  • Coordinating effectively with terminals to reduce dwell time and delay
• Risk and Disruption Management Across the Chain
  • Identifying vulnerabilities across shipping, ports, and inland logistics
  • Building contingency approaches that maintain flow during disruption
• Measuring End-to-End Supply Chain Performance
  • Defining metrics that reflect genuine door-to-door performance
  • Using performance data to drive continuous supply chain improvement