Maersk, IBM team up to develop blockchain 'pipeline'
Maersk Lines and IBM have set up a joint venture to provide the container shipping industry with a blockchain "pipeline" where carriers, terminals, freight forwarders and railroads can upload cargo movement information to provide shippers with an end-to-end record.
The independent company stems from a project that Maersk Line and IBM announced 10 months ago to deploy "blockchain" technology to digitalise the complex paper trail involved in the global supply chain. IBM and Maersk estimate the initiatives could save the industry billions of dollars, reported IHS Media.
Maersk expects to launch the first two elements of the project - a shipping information pipeline offering end-to-end supply chain visibility and a paperless trade system that will digitise and automate paperwork filings - by the end of September. The pipeline effort will focus on building corridors on the top trades: Asia-Europe, trans-Pacific, and trans-Atlantic.
To make it work, however, Maersk will need to secure the support of supply chain participants across the spectrum, as users of the system and providers of information about cargo as it moves along the supply chain. That is one reason the shipping line decided to create a new "neutral" company to create and operate the portal that will be independent and be guided by an advisory board.
Through blockchain the record of transactions cannot be tampered with and will provide a new level of accountability to parties within the supply chain.
Maersk's said the technology's two main functions - the "shipping information pipeline" and the move to digitise and automate the supply chain - will provide "greater transparency, security, efficiency and simplicity to a shipping ecosystem that is massive in scale."
Head of global trade digitisation for Maersk Group, Michael White, said: "If we are really going to help drive digitisation in our industry, we have to try different models."
The system will reduce the cost of administering cargo movement, cut fraud and reduce administration costs by cutting out paper inefficiencies, Mr White said, adding that "the cost of paperwork is often more than the cost of transportation."
Since Maersk and IBM began working on the project, several companies have been participating in its testing, the carrier said. Among them were DuPont, Dow Chemical, Tetra Pak, port of Houston, Rotterdam Port Community System Portbase, the Customs Administration of the Netherlands, and US Customs and Border Protection.
Maersk has said in the past that its analysis has shown that shippers sending cargo around the world had to interact with 28 different entities - among them customs, terminals, shipping lines, and forwarders - and that without digitalisation the process could generate a stack of paper two inches thick.
Cosco's new 20,000 TEU vessel first boxship to achieve cyber certification
Cosco Shipping Lines' newly delivered 20,000 TEU MV Cosco Shipping Aries has become the first containership in the world to have an energy management system that has been cyber-certified by classification society Lloyd's Register (LR). The ship was built by Nantong Cosco KHI Ship Engineering Co, Ltd (NACKS).
Cosco Shipping Container Line, safety & technology department, general manager Shi Yongxin was quoted as saying in a report by New York's Marine Log: "We have always attached great importance to a cyber enabled fleet in order to enhance fleet management, reduce energy consumption and control emissions.
"In the field of cyber enabled ships, LR has great research findings and well-established requirements. During the construction of the MV Cosco Shipping Aries, we were very fortunate to have the great support from LR and, finally, successfully obtain the first AL3 level descriptive note for ultra large containership in the world," he said.
The Accessibility Level AL3 is defined by LR as "cyber access for autonomous/remote monitoring and control (onboard permission is required and onboard override is possible)."
The ship complies with the revised version of LR's cyber-enabled ships ShipRight procedure, issued in December 2017, and its energy management system has received LR's cyber-enabled ship (CES) descriptive note "Cyber AL3 Secure Perform."
According to LR, "cyber-enabled systems" are considered to be systems installed onboard ships that would conventionally be controlled by the ship's crew. The functionality provided by cyber-enabled systems can range from simple remote monitoring with a crew onboard through to a fully autonomous vessel without a crew onboard.
Consequently, as the risks can vary considerably, the assessment of cyber-enabled systems requires a risk-based approach to identify the hazards introduced by cyber-enablement and to mitigate the associated risks.
OOCL takes delivery of sixth and final 21,413TEU boxship, the OOCL Indonesia
Hong Kong's Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) has taken delivery of its sixth and last 21,413 TEU boxship in a series of six 'G Class' containerships from Samsung Heavy Industry (SHI) shipyard.
The vessel will begin her maiden voyage this month and will join her five sister vessels on its LL1 service, linking major markets in Asia and Northern Europe, the container line said.
The port rotation for the 77-day loop is Shanghai, Ningbo, Xiamen, Yantian, Singapore, via Suez Canal, Felixstowe, Rotterdam, Gdansk, Wilhelmshaven, Felixstowe, vai Suez Canal, Singapore, Yantian and back to Shanghai.
The six vessels built by SHI were completed within one year, OOCL noted.
"The flexibility provided in our newbuilding programme is one of the crucial elements to how we can better manage our fleet and operations in such a dynamic and challenging industry," OOCL chief executive Andy Tung said.
"Not only was the time factor a challenge, but the actual engineering feat in building the world's largest containerships for the first time within the given period while incorporating the best and latest innovation and technologies is a monumental project not to be underestimated."
Mr Tung also said that the christening "marked a wonderful start to the new year in 2018 as the industry is seeing a much healthier global economic environment not seen in many years since the 2009 financial crisis, and that various governments around the world are continuing to fuel the growth momentum with policy agendas to boost trade and economic cooperation."
The chief executive also spoke about the Hong Kong-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which was signed in November, as an opportunity for trade growth and market expansion.
"Once ratified, the new FTA arrangements will not only open opportunities for trade growth, but also facilitate more effective and efficient trade links through the elimination of import duties and streamlining of regulations that would inevitably help improve supply chain flow over the long run. In our industry, speed is of essence and we are very excited to see these kinds of policy directions pushing forward," Mr Tung added.
(Source:HKSG-GROUP)
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