Drewry and the World Container Index have launched a new initiative in their ongoing campaign to educate and share best practice in the use of Index Linked Container Contracts, with a demonstration of how these agreements work in the real world.

The demonstration allows industry stakeholders to view how several different methodologies for these contracts develop and perform against the market in real time.

In a statement, Drewry said the index linked contract demonstrations were available online at www.drewrysupplychains.com/ilcc and access was free.

Three different contract scenarios are published, covering different trade routes and different methodologies. The contracts run from Jan 1 to December 31, 2014, allowing visitors to view historical performance as well as ongoing developments through to the end of 2014.

"Drewry and the World Container Index have been working together for the last couple of years with BCO's, freight forwarders and shipping lines to share best practice and facilitate the development and proliferation of these type of agreements,¡± said Richard Heath, director for the World Container Index.

"In 2012 we published a white paper and ran a webinar on the subject and since we have received a constant stream of enquiries for more information. So we decided to launch this web-based demonstration which interested parties can easily follow to get more information."

Adoption of index linked contracts continues to grow as traditional fixed rate contracting comes under more pressure from continuing freight rate volatility.

"All three example contracts are based on methodologies that we know are being used right now in the real world," added Martin Dixon, research manager for freight rate benchmarking at Drewry.

"In addition to tracking the contracts online, users can subscribe to quarterly briefings which provide analysis on recent market developments and impacts on the example contracts."

Any interested party can follow the index linked contract demonstration free of charge by signing up at the following web page www.drewrysupplychains.com/ilcc