Customer Overview
IINO Lines, a Japan-based shipowner and operator with a diversified fleet of tankers and bulk carriers, manages over 1,000 annual port calls worldwide. With a lean operations team, the company sought to make port cost management more efficient and transparent while freeing internal staff to focus on higher-value financial work.
Challenge: Manual DA Process Creating Operational Bottlenecks
Before implementing DA-Desk, IINO Lines managed disbursement accounts (DAs) manually through an internal disbursement team working along with the operations team, responsible for roughly 1,000 port calls per year. This process relied heavily on spreadsheets and manual verification of port costs against tariffs worldwide.
Key challenges included:
Limited capacity: Staff managing high port-call volume led to delays in DA turnaround and internal KPI pressure for faster responses.
Inefficient workflows: Manual matching of port costs and tariffs created room for inconsistency and lost value.
Currency handling complexity: Managing FX and cash internally from Singapore added administrative overhead and risk.
As the business grew, these constraints became unsustainable. The team needed to accelerate DA turnaround times, enhance financial accuracy, and repurpose resources more effectively.
Solution: Transitioning to DA-Desk for Efficiency and Accuracy
IINO Lines adopted Marcura's DA-Desk to automate and standardize its DA management workflow. The solution introduced structured validation, global tariff checks, and centralized cash management.
The company:
Fully transitioned DA handling to DA-Desk, freeing internal staff to move into higher-value finance roles.
Introduced a stronger layer of due diligence and compliance in DA approval processes.
Gained transparency into payments and port costs through structured data and reporting.
IINO Lines also maintains a collaborative relationship with Marcura, exploring adjacent digitalization opportunities:
PortLog: Evaluating adoption for chemical tanker operations, with active feedback to refine workflows for that segment.
Claims: Prospecting pilots to test digital claims modules such as PDMS for demurrage and claims handling.
Marcura AI: Engaged in early discussions on AI applications in maritime workflows, contributing insights from a leading operator's perspective.
Benefits: Resource Reallocation and Process Modernization
Although the company cannot disclose quantitative figures, IINO Lines reports a significant functional shift:
The DA team's manual workload was eliminated, and DA handlers were reassigned to core financial functions.
DA-Desk enables faster processing, better compliance, and a clearer audit trail for payments.
The company gained visibility into port cost data that now supports strategic decision-making.
"In my personal view, using DA-Desk for over 10 years, I've seen how it evolved from handling agent queries to developing analytics that uncover new insights. The amount of data available from port calls and what you can do with it is amazing."
— Abhishek Yadav, IINO Lines
Why This Matters
For operators like IINO Lines, DA-Desk doesn't just automate admin work; it enabled leaner teams to scale safely and focus on value creation. Their journey also reflects how Marcura's ecosystem (DA-Desk, PortLog, Claims, and AI initiatives) can evolve with a customer's digital maturity.
