Blockchain

Previously we shared an article about India’s first blockchain enabled Letter of Credit and also the First blockchain enabled trade finance transaction.. Both of these activities were carried out by HSBC..

HSBC seems to be leading the way in terms of blockchain-based tools to handle financial processes relating to foreign-exchange trades..

The world of digitisation and technology is upon us and the shipping and freight industry has been playing catch up compared to the other industries..

In November 2017, ZIM Line announced that the first pilot of paperless Bills-of-Lading based on blockchain technology was completed in cooperation with Sparx Logistics and Wave Ltd.. The pioneering pilot, the first of its kind led by an ocean carrier, was concluded successfully as part of ZIM lines new platform along with a selection of their leading customers to test this solution for trade activities on multiple shipping lanes..

Following this successful pilot, ZIM line has been evaluating its platform in different trade lanes with more customers and is now ready to move to the next phase of its blockchain initiative..

You may have read my review about CargoX's blockchain based smart bill of lading where I explained how it works..

CargoX is an independent supplier of public-blockchain-based solutions for logistics looking to transport the global supply chain industry into the 21st century..

CargoX's Smart B/L™ is the first open, neutral blockchain platform in the shipping industry for real-world commercial use and it is now open for business..

CargoX wins the IRU World Congress Startup competition among 77 competitors, impressing more than 1000 attendees from over 60 countries.

The IRU organization is constituted of more than 100 national transport associations and transport operators. Igor Jakomin, Ph.D., COO of CargoX, pitched the CargoX platform to a jury of venture capitalists, business professionals, and industry experts.

The startup competition was organised by Road Ventures SA, a Captive Venture Capital Fund that supports innovation in mobility. The competition was dedicated to launching and advising the world’s next wave of leading entrepreneurs.

Many people may remember fondly while some may choose to forget the famous tech bubble of 2000, when a long list of internet and tech related stocks peaked and then crashed into a bear market..

Many companies like Microsoft, Cisco, Intel, Qualcomm, Apple etc were part of this bubble.. Some of the bubbles burst, while some survived..

Will Blockchain prove to be one such bubble that will last or burst.......................

Blockchain has been

• successfully used by Banks and Shippers to create Trade Finance documents ;
• creative enough to get a Tech company and the World's largest container line to invest in it ;
• successfully used by companies to create and transmit smart bills of lading with it ;

Now it seems to be the turn of ports and port authorities to get in on the Blockchain action..

Blockchain - that newfangled concept seems to be catching on quickly and moving along quite nicely in the shipping and freight industry..

A Blockchain is a ledger that uses cryptography, the internet and naturally computers to create, share, transfer, track and secure assets and transactions (represented/organised as blocks) belonging to everyone to fulfil a certain function..

Unless the previous transaction is not completed in the chain and shared forward with a timestamp, the next transaction cannot happen..

In the first transaction of its kind in India, HSBC India and ING Bank Brussels have enabled, successfully executed and completed a full blockchain driven trade finance transaction between India's Reliance Industries and USA's Tricon Energy..

CargoX Smart Bill of Lading based on Blockchain – how it works..   Smart Computers, Smart Phones, Smart Cars and now Smart Bill of lading..!!!! Shipping documentation...

We talked with FreightHub co-founder Michael Wax about What his company is doing to establish itself as an active partner to shippers, and what the ideal forwarder-shipper relationship should look like.

Will blockchain revolutionize the shipping and logistics industry, allowing it to move past inefficient legacy technologies by handing companies the keys to high-tech solutions, at an affordable cost? That’s ShipChain CEO John Monarch’s vision, and over the past year, his company’s platform has emerged as one of the foremost contenders in this burgeoning market.

We are getting close to full visibility and accountability in the shipping and freight business, thanks to blockchain.

Here’s how. Blockchain-based solutions align accountability with responsibility and create a neutral layer that incentivizes greater sharing of data.

We talked with OriginTrail CEO Tomaž Levak about how that works. “By performing consensus checks in each step of the supply chain we are effectively creating a single version of truth and supply chains with integrity,” Tomaž explained.

“Such end-to-end visibility can, in turn, be used to overcome not only data fragmentation but can support various other use cases.”

Brian Laung Aoaeh and Lisa Morales-Hellebo, co-founders of The New York Supply Chain Meetup LLC, operate under the mantra “the past ran on supply chains. The present runs on supply chains. The future will run on supply chains. The world is a supply chain.”

In their efforts to realize this vision, Brian and Lisa have joined with other supply chain professionals to curate and organize events that seek, find, encourage, and include a wide range of views and ideas on the most significant problems related to global supply chain networks.

Welcome to The New York Supply Chain Meetup..

Profitability in sea freight shipment is not a myth or a unicorn.. It is very possible.. Read how..

It is not a secret that ocean transportation and logistics is currently confronting immense change in terms of new technology, new markets, rising customer expectations, and new business models..

There have been a few articles on this blog about these advances like Blockchain based Bill of Lading, and other technologies that are shaking up the freight industry .. There are many ways the industry could develop to meet existing and new challenges, some of which are evolutionary and others are more revolutionary..

While cargo transportation is generally a complex business, in some cases it could be straightforward as well depending on how you manage it.. It is also a fact that in this high paced business environment it is not easy to follow every market trend and find answers on how to tackle the prevailing challenges easily..

Each customer and each shipment has its own issues, peculiarities, problems and characteristics.. But the main question that several shippers and services providers ask is “How to ensure profitability in sea freight shipment"..

More often than not, exporters, importers, carriers and logistics service providers experience loss due to poor planning, decision making and implementation..

A lot of people get into the industry sometimes without knowing even the basics relating to the business, the specifics relating to the business, the requirements and some of the vital information that can make or break the business.. I have even written a Beginner's Guide to Importing for those who wanted to get into the importing business but didn't know how..

Here are 11 steps you can follow to ensure profitability in sea freight shipment..

With so many new companies launching blockchain-based shipping products, it’s clear that maritime trade will look very different in a few years.. What’s less clear is what that change will look like..

In this article we examine what barriers still exist to widespread blockchain implementation, and what companies are doing to overcome them..

We talk to startups like CargoX and established players like Agility, Maersk, IBM, Evergreen etc. to understand how shipping is changing, and where it’s going..