2016 was a year of change and challenges unprecedented in many ways. Overcapacity coupled with modest demand caused further reductions in already loss-making freight rates, resulting in major financial turmoil for the industry. By year's end, six carrier brands had disappeared, three Japanese carriers announced plans to merge in the next year, and we saw a bankruptcy that surprised and caused major upheaval. Alliances were disrupted and reshuffled, changing the face of container shipping and requiring shippers to rethink routings and who to rely on to keep their volumes moving.
In 2017, we can expect change will continue, but change can also be positive. It may provide opportunity for improvement and perhaps an entirely new business model for the future. As technological innovation sweeps across economies, in a world where immediate availability of accurate data is as important as timely delivery of cargo, now is the time to truly transform the way we work. For Maersk Line, digitization is not just a buzzword. Big Data, analytics and the Internet of Things hold the promise of innovation, real-time data to manage operations, optimize processes, and deliver a consistently better customer experience.
That is why we heavily invest in our IT platforms and digital applications to enable more than 300,000 daily business transactions on our website and the 6 million EDI messages sent to partners globally every day. We leverage digital technology to increase visibility for our customers, such as schedule alerts automatically sent to users and the ability to monitor and trace reefer containers anywhere in the world.
The future is here, and we must embrace it to make the most of the opportunities it will bring.