Ryan Petersen, chief executive of Flexport said in his blog that the move, which allows Amazon to buy and sell space on ships, could allow Amazon to sell directly from factories in China to the US.
"This is Amazon’s first step toward entering the $350 billion ocean freight market," Petersen said.
"This is a smart and long overdue move for the company. By offering ocean freight services, Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) will make it easier for its customers to move goods into the company’s logistics network," he said.
"It fits so naturally with their network. They already do this beautiful logistics network in the US, why wouldn’t you want to extend that internationally?" Petersen told the Financial Times.
The US Federal Maritime Commission told the Financial Times that Amazon China’s registration papers were submitted on 9 November, and that more than 1,300 foreign-registered companies have a similar non-vessel operating common carrier licence.