The Steady Growth of Maritime Blockchain

There is an increasing demand for blockchain-based solutions that has altogether altered the scenario of container shipping and has catapulted the concept of global supply chains to a whole new level. The markets are overflowing with a myriad of businesses operating on the basis of blockchain development and the competition is steadily on the rise. Currently, the industry leaders are focused on building a suitable platform that not only enables the smooth transfer of data and documentation but also makes an effort to reconfigure and change the format of the various trading practices to suit the requirements. Since its advent in 2009, the blockchain technology has been evolving and its applications have branched out in numerous sectors across the globe. The blockchain has brought about the decentralization of data storage with the help of a decentralized database. However, there is no doubt that the real success of blockchain lies in the fact that the system can work perfectly well without the interference from an outward source for the proper verification of the transactions.

The blockchain was initially conceptualized as a unique platform for the cryptocurrency, which has been gradually incorporated into the global trade. The major players in the marine arena, such as the IBM and A.P. Moller-Maersk, has put a lot of stress on the significance of technology in enhancing the overall efficiency of the global supply chains. As we are aware of, IBM and Maersk have jointly launched a new TradeLens blockchain solution to meet the growing demands of the clients. This has served as a huge inspiration for other smaller companies in the marine industry to further utilize the blockchain-based solutions for their own benefit. Not lagging behind, the start-up organizations (like the CargoX) are exploring the pros and cons offering neutral solutions that will guarantee a lot of advantages for the companies in the long run. Also, this is going to attract the attention of shippers, logistics setups, freight-forwarders etc. and hopefully, they will put their faith in the trade networks run by blockchain. In fact, the port authorities along with the terminal authorities are integrating the blockchain strategies to initiate a substantial growth in the supply chain. Let us consider the praiseworthy example set forward by the Port of Veracruz of Mexico that has successfully introduced a blockchain project to strengthen the level of security in freight transportation. This shows that the blockchain technology is slowly gaining popularity with various terminal operators, carriers, etc.

The Major Maritime Leaders in Blockchain

The world-famous organizations like the Maersk and IBM are not the only ones who are making a commendable effort to integrate the countless profits assured by the blockchain technology. An incredible number of companies (234 marine gateways, to be precise) have shown their genuine interest in adopting the blockchain platform that will give them the authorization to provide uninterrupted, real-time access to shipping-related data and documents, which may involve IoT and sensor data too. In November 2018, the notion of establishing a nine-party consortium to develop and integrate the blockchain technology was formed in Shanghai, which featured many major companies like the PSA International, CMA CGM, DP World, COSCO, etc. Though the assemblage of the nine organizations has not been successful in formulating a product that will eventually beat the TradeLens service, it can be assumed that such a strong agreement between the power-packed maritime leaders can certainly compete with the joint dominance by Maersk and IBM in the field of the blockchain.

Rise of Alternative Blockchain Platforms

In the recent scenario, we can find that many small businesses are trying to assert their involvement in the blockchain marketplace that is mainly ruled by the major leaders and will probably be shared with the upcoming nine-party consortium. CargoX, a small organization based in Slovenia, is focussed on the ‘Smart Bill of Lading’ and launched the Smart B/L platform last year. This B/L platform can be stated as an “open and neutral blockchain platform” that is suitable for real-world commercial usage in the maritime arena. However, the CargoX platform is fairly different from the TradeLens one, because it is much more susceptible to manipulation and is dependent on the private infrastructure of the blockchain technology. CargoX has advertised the benefits of using the Smart B/L platform as being basic and can easily adjust to any workflow or process. CargoX happens to be an important member of the Blockchain in Transport Alliance (BiTA) and has predicted that blockchain technology will probably take over the majority of the maritime shipping documentation and this change is absolutely inevitable.

The Role Of Blockchain in Port Technology

With the positive growth of the digital platforms like blockchain, the various ports and terminals are looking forward to imbibe the modern technology into their services. Keeping this thought in mind, many ports have signed up for the TradeLens platform (launched by Maersk and IBM), such as the Port of Montreal, the Valencia Port and several of the APM Terminals. The Valencia Port Authority is impressed by the widespread distribution capacities of the TradeLens service. Moreover, some ports like the Port of Rotterdam, have been busy creating viable blockchain solutions. According to the media reports, the Port of Rotterdam is working in cooperation with the ABN AMRO and the Samsung SDS to utilize the blockchain technology to amp up the efficiency and transparency of the port.

Plans for Future Development of Blockchain

At the Smart Ports and Supply Chain Technologies Conference (SPSCT) organised by PTI in 2018, Nadia Hewett from the renowned World Economic Forum, highlighted the notion that the blockchain technology is essentially a solution that is still continued to be controlled by the IT teams. Nadia strongly believes that the blockchain technology should be more easily accessible all around the globe and this can be achieved if the smaller players of the industry, show a genuine interest and come forward to integrate it into their businesses.

Speaking on this matter, Mr Oliver Haines (the Vice President of BiTA Europe) has reflected on the fact that the widespread adoption of the blockchain technology will not remain restricted to just one or two major platforms. He stressed that it really does not matter as to how large and how influential the organizations are since the blockchain needs to distributed on a bigger scale in this severely fragmented industry. Mr Haines encouraged a powerful collaboration to initiate the best procedures and standards, which will further aim to derive the maximum amount of benefits from utilizing the technology to the fullest. Mr Haines is confident that the market will undergo a huge, positive change to usher in not only better transparency but also a higher level of trust and efficiency than before.

As you must already know, BiTA is immensely popular as the biggest commercial blockchain alliance throughout the world and is now concentrating on how the blockchain technology could drive forward the logistics scene with its ever-growing capacity. Moreover, BiTA is glad that the well-established, international shipping organizations are making proper use of the technology and are considering it to be an integral part of their logistics services. Although it is still difficult to gauge the level of progress of this action, it is definitely a ray of hope for a more promising future for the maritime industry.