Big Ocean Cargo Carriers Join Blockchain Initiative
28 Mai 2019 - 02:29PM
Dow Jones News
By Costas Paris
Two major European ship operators have joined a blockchain
platform formed by A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S and International
Business Machines Corp., in a significant boost for the adoption of
the technology across the logistics industry.
The addition of France's CMA CGM SA and Switzerland-based
Mediterannean Shipping Company to the effort called TradeLens means
the three carriers that control nearly half of all seaborne
containerized cargo capacity will make the movement of freight in
international supply chains more transparent and potentially
generate substantial annual savings.
Maersk and IBM in 2016 kicked off the blockchain platform for
container ships, which carry the vast majority of consumer goods,
furniture, manufacturing parts and other basics of global commerce.
Large companies such as Walmart Inc., Procter & Gamble Co and
DowDuPont Inc. along with 100 ports have been testing the
technology to get a better view of their supply chains, from raw
materials to finished goods.
For ocean carriers, the blockchain technology allows trusted
participants to share information as goods move through supply
chains. The system also promises to reduce the cost of paperwork.
Maersk said the maximum cost of the required documentation to
process and administer many of the goods shipped each year makes up
roughly one-fifth of the actual physical transportation costs.
Widespread participation across the supply chain is key to
making TradeLens work, however. Many companies, including
transportation operators and freight forwarders that manage the
flow of goods, have been reluctant to share data on common
platforms.
Global customs authorities are also skeptical about the
technology.
"Customs have to process more and more transactions and their
budget is not in line," said Vincent Clerc, Maersk's chief
commercial officer. "As they see the merits of blockchain, we will
see more of them developing connections this year."
CMA CGM, the world's fourth largest container after Maersk, MSC
and No. 3 Cosco Shipping Holdings Ltd. of China, late last year
joined the Global Business Network, a similar blockchain initiative
anchored by Cosco and other Asian carriers.
The French carrier's decision to join TradeLens as well is "a
signal that the whole notion of blockchain tourism is over and that
we are at a tipping point for scale where participants will share
data in a trusted fashion," said Marie Wieck, general manager for
IBM Blockchain.
"The fact that CMA CGM is now on two platforms means blockchain
solutions in shipping won't be a winner-take-all, but there may be
room for a couple of competing platforms," said Lars Jenes, chief
executive, Copenhagen-based SeaIntelligence Consulting.
The move comes as Maersk and IBM are trying to reinvent
themselves. IBM has been looking to new lines of business including
blockchain as sales in its legacy business of selling hardware and
software slow. Maersk has been trying to transform expand its
business from port-to-port shipping into more of an integrated
logistics provider like FedEx Corp.
Write to Costas Paris at costas.paris@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 28, 2019 08:14 ET (12:14 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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