With the development of economic globalization, the internationalization of shipping industry increased accordingly. The shipping industry's healthy development depends on understanding, cooperation and coordination of the industry among all countries and regions. The Global Shipping Think Tank Alliance (hereinafter referred to as the Alliance) was founded to gather famous shipping think tanks in different regions of the world, set up a platform for exchange and cooperation and promote solid interactions between shipping think tanks and the shipping industry. The Alliance aims to provide more valuable consultation services to the shipping industry and to create win-win benefits community for the promotion of the healthy development of global shipping industry.

The Alliance is an unincorporated, not registered and unofficial academic body of shipping research institutes all over the world.

The Alliance will have a chairman and a secretariat. The chairman is responsible for the overall coordination. Shanghai International Shipping Institute will undertake the first chairman, while later chairmen will be nominated by member organizations and elected at the liaison meetings by vote. The term of chairman is three years. The secretariat is set in SISI with a secretary-general who is appointed by SISI and is responsible for the daily work of the Alliance.

  The group of members of the Alliance includes SISI, China Academy of Transportation Sciences of the Ministry of Transport, Shipping Development Research Institute affiliated to Dalian Maritime University, World Maritime University Shanghai Center, Korea Maritime Institute (KMI), Port and Air Research Institute of Japan (PARI), Drewry, Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics (ISL), Centre for Maritime Studies of National University of Singapore (CMS), IMC-Frank Tsao Maritime Library and R&D Center, SRM (Centre of Research linked to Intesa Sanpaolo Banking Group) and Hong Kong Maritime Research Centre, Marsoft, and IHS Markit.