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Modern Terminals, Hong Kong’s second largest container port manager, has joined the IBM and Maersk-led blockchain initiative that aims to transform the shipping industry, the South China Morning Post reported.
Announced in August, the TradeLens platform has been designed to enhance the efficiency and security of global trade. It is expected to launch at the end of 2018. Modern Terminals is currently the only Hong Kong-based participant of this initiative.
Hailing the platform as the “Holy Grail” Modern Terminals’ managing director Peter Levesque told the SCMP that TradeLens would be a “single system” that various stakeholders such as shippers, freight forwarders, imports, and terminal operators can all work with.
Commenting on Modern Terminal’s decision to embrace blockchain, Levesque said, “We shouldn’t walk away from our history [as a port city]. We need to go on the offence and being part of a smart city makes sense.”
One of the core focus areas of the TradeLens is to digitize the largely manual and paper-based shipping industry. By using blockchain technology, it aims to speed up customs clearance.
While there are other similar blockchain-based initiatives, Modern Terminals decided to sign on to TradeLens as it is backed by Maersk, which accounts for over 19 percent of global shipping after its acquisition of Hamburg Sud in 2017. Notably, two members are joining the platform every week, with the total number of members standing at 105 in October, which includes shipping companies, terminal and port operators, and customs departments.
A Maersk spokesperson said that the system captures an estimated 1 million ship movements every day, with nearly 240 million customs releases, invoices and bills of lading on the system as of November 23.
However, in an October report, CoinDesk said TradeLens was struggling to get more carriers on board as Maersk's rival shipping carriers are concerned about joining the initiative on a less than equal footing. To address these concerns, Maersk organized a meeting of technology executives of Maersk, CMA-CGM, Hapag-Lloyd, the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) and Ocean Network Express on November 15 to establish an industry standard for shipping lines.
