Shipco Transport Ltd.

Expanding Reach with Regional Precision

How this leading Transport company Is Strengthening Caribbean Trade Through Technology, Relationships, and Sustainability

As global trade continues to face volatility, shifting costs, and evolving customer expectations, Shipco Transport is sharpening its regional strategy across the Caribbean with a focus on reliability, digital visibility, and stronger service access for smaller island markets. In Trinidad and Tobago, where Shipco operates as a neutral NVOCC supporting freight forwarders, the company is adapting its model to meet changing conditions while building a platform for long-term growth.

Julian Sammy, Shipco’s Director of Sales, Caribbean, explains that Shipco’s role remains clear and consistent. The company provides import and export services to Trinidad and the wider region, serving freight forwarders rather than going direct to their customers. That neutrality is a cornerstone of Shipco’s value proposition, reinforcing trust in an industry where relationships and reliability matter as much as price and transit time. Headquartered in New Jersey, Shipco is a subsidiary of Denmark-based Scan-Group. With more than 90 offices in over 30 countries, Shipco operates within a global network, combining international scale with local execution.

Supply Chain Conditions: Improvement, but Still Vulnerable

On the supply chain front, Shipco is seeing some stabilization, but Julian describes the environment as still vulnerable and easily disrupted by global and regional events. Geopolitical tensions, trade policy shifts, and earlier challenges such as Panama Canal constraints have all contributed to fluctuations in freight pricing and schedule reliability. In practical terms, those disruptions affect not just transportation providers, but also the landed cost of goods for customers—especially in import-dependent economies.

In Trinidad and Tobago, the impact is shaped by operational realities on the ground. Julian notes that port congestion remains a challenge at times, influenced by limited resources such as cranes and throughput capacity, alongside labor dynamics that can affect efficiency. As a smaller island market, Trinidad must operate within those constraints, though Shipco is seeing improvement compared to prior periods.

The company is also monitoring broader container availability issues that have created shortages worldwide. With high-volume trade flows and inland container turnaround delays in major markets, equipment positioning has become a continuing challenge, adding another layer of complexity to regional shipping.

Growth Through New Trade Lanes and Deeper Regional Insight

Despite these headwinds, Shipco’s Caribbean operation is seeing year-over-year growth, driven by increased awareness among freight forwarders of the services available and the reliability of Shipco’s model. Sammy notes that staffing levels have remained steady while business volume has increased, supported by operational discipline and technology-enabled efficiency.

A key development since the last profile is Shipco’s increased emphasis on regional expansion and market support. Sammy’s focus reflects that strategy, enabling direct engagement with island markets to better understand what customers need and where service gaps exist. The company is actively exploring stronger trade lane options from Asia into Trinidad, Barbados, and Guyana, as well as Europe into Barbados and Guyana, and vice versa.

One of the most important themes emerging from these regional conversations is the challenge of servicing smaller islands cost-effectively, particularly for LCL cargo. Trinidad and Jamaica operate as larger transshipment hubs with stronger port infrastructure, but smaller island markets face constraints that can increase cost and limit consistency. Shipco’s focus is on tailoring solutions to those realities, identifying opportunities for more direct services and improved consolidation strategies that make regional shipping more accessible and cost competitive.

Technology as the Operational Backbone

Technology remains central to Shipco’s operating model. Sammy describes Shipco’s digital platform as the heart of day-to-day execution, allowing customers to quote, book, and track shipments with real-time visibility. For freight forwarders in the Caribbean, this shift away from manual processes has been transformative, improving accuracy, reducing turnaround time, and strengthening communication.

Shipco’s tools also enable customers to access shipment updates independently through a digital tracking platform and mobile app, supporting faster decision-making and reducing the friction that often comes with status requests and manual follow-up. In a region where conditions can change quickly and customer expectations remain high, that transparency is increasingly essential.

AI is part of the broader technology discussion, though Shipco’s focus remains on continued evolution of its digital systems and tools rather than treating AI as a standalone solution. Sammy notes that the company’s technology investments are ongoing, adaptive, and designed to strengthen operational efficiency and customer visibility across the network.

A People-First Culture with a Local Mindset

While Shipco is global, Sammy emphasizes the importance of maintaining a local operating mindset—particularly in the Caribbean, where relationships and personal engagement remain central to customer trust. In Trinidad and Tobago, customers often prefer direct phone contact and personal responsiveness, so Shipco ensures accessibility through company-issued mobile phones and a service model designed to feel hands-on rather than distant.

That relationship-building extends beyond day-to-day service. Shipco participates actively in industry associations and chambers, including the Caribbean Shipping Association, where the company has maintained platinum sponsorship since entering the region. Sammy describes these events as essential touchpoints for strengthening trust, maintaining visibility, and reinforcing the message that even as a large global company, Shipco treats every customer—regardless of size—as important.

Internally, Sammy describes Shipco’s culture as collaborative and people-centered, supported by strong communication tools that keep global teams connected and responsive across time zones. Local teams take pride in understanding the nuances of each island market and adapting service delivery accordingly. That combination of global scale and local fluency is positioned as a competitive advantage in the Caribbean, where market conditions differ significantly from North America, Europe, and Asia.

Investing in Training, Compliance, and Operational Capacity

Shipco’s current investment priorities in Trinidad and the region are centered on technology, infrastructure, and people development. Sammy notes ongoing upgrades to digital tools and warehouse capability, alongside a strong emphasis on training in compliance, safety, and customer service. Corporate-led training programs are encouraged and supported, with the belief that staff who are well trained feel more confident, more empowered, and better prepared to manage the exceptions and complexities that inevitably arise in logistics.

This approach is particularly relevant in markets where port conditions, documentation requirements, and congestion issues can introduce variables beyond a shipment plan. Training improves response quality and speed, and reinforces consistency across customer-facing interactions.

Sustainability and ESG: From Policy to Practice

A growing focus across Shipco’s global network is sustainability and ESG performance, and Sammy notes that Trinidad is actively aligned with that direction. Efforts include supporting cleaner carrier operations where possible, encouraging digitization to reduce paper dependence, and promoting more efficient routing and consolidation to reduce emissions through fuller container loads and fewer fragmented moves.

Shipco is also working to minimize waste and reduce reliance on single-use materials, including reducing the use of plastics and Styrofoam where practical. While many of these efforts may appear incremental individually, Sammy positions them as part of a broader, mandated global shift in how Shipco operates—one designed to reduce environmental impact and support more sustainable logistics practices.

Looking Ahead

Over the next 18 to 24 months, Shipco’s priorities in Trinidad and Tobago will continue to center on expanding regional service options, strengthening consolidation points, and improving access to smaller island markets through more tailored solutions. Technology will remain the backbone, enabling transparency and operational speed, while people investment through training and empowerment will remain critical for maintaining consistent service amid unpredictable conditions.

Sammy summarizes the outlook as both regional and mission-driven. Shipco is not only moving cargo. It is connecting communities and economies across the Caribbean and beyond—helping freight forwarders serve their markets more efficiently and opening global opportunities for regional businesses, including smaller exporters who can benefit from stronger access to international trade lanes.

In a region where most economies remain heavily import-driven and where the cost of logistics directly shapes daily life, Shipco’s focus on efficiency, partnership, and sustainable progress positions the company to continue growing while strengthening the infrastructure of Caribbean commerce.

AT A GLANCE

Who: Shipco Transport Ltd.

What: A leading logistics and shipping company working in the Caribbean region with plans to increase its already impressive stronghold in the sector

Where: Trinidad and Tobago, Caribbean

Website: www.shipco.com