EY and Guardtime-backed blockchain firm Insurwave inks MoU with China's Zhuhai Port Holdings

Insurwave, the EY and Guardtime marine insurance blockchain joint venture company, has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with China’s Zhuhai Port holdings.

In May 2018, EY and Guardtime launched Insurwave – a marine insurance blockchain platform for commercial use. The platform aims to automate the insurance process to meet the needs of all stakeholders.

According to the official website, the Insurwave platform enables claims to be paid in hours, premiums to be agreed and settled in seconds, shippers to track and share data with brokers and insurers, and insurers to track their exposures in near real-time. The first phase of the platform rollout supports the creation of insurance contracts.

Zhuhai Port Holdings Group businesses span across the development, construction, management and operation of ports, land and supporting facilities.

Under the agreement, the entities intend to explore and collaborate on shipping logistics and marine insurance to promote frictionless trade across the Greater Bay Area and beyond. The MoU focuses on the link between marine insurance blockchain technology and port logistics with the objective of enhancing the efficiency of global trade conditions.

"Combining the knowledge from Insurwave with Zhuhai Port Holdings' experience in port logistics, we're pleased to establish a joint initiative for identifying blockchain's applications in cross-border financial services, logistics and trade,” Shaun Crawford, EY Global Vice Chair for Industry, said.

“This agreement comes at a great time and we look forward to supporting the Greater Bay Area plan and the Belt and Road initiative."