Blockchain Tech for Safe Chemical Cargo Transport

GSBN partners with Chinese companies to enhance the transportation of chemical cargo safety using blockchain technology. A streamlined certificate verification process reduces the risk of fraud and errors. Discover how this innovation is improving safety and efficiency in the shipping industry.

Concept

The Hong Kong-based blockchain platform Global Shipping Business Network (GSBN) has collaborated with COSCO, Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL), and the Shanghai Research Institute of Chemical Industry Testing (SICIT) to improve the safe transportation of chemical cargoes, including lithium batteries.

Together, the four Chinese companies have leveraged blockchain technology to achieve an industry-first proof-of-concept that helps enhance transportation safety in the shipping industry. This breakthrough comes at a time when container shipping has been hit hard by a series of accidents relating to the carriage of hazardous chemical cargo.

Certificates Verification

Considering the exports from China, SICIT is one of the main organizations authorized to test and issue safe transportation certificates. Traditionally, shippers would collect the certificate from an accreditation body and provide the document either as a hard copy or as a scanned copy to the carriers. However, for the carriers and subsequent transportation companies in the supply chain, certificates shared in this form can be hard to verify, thus carrying risks such as mislabelling and fraud.

By harnessing GSBN’s blockchain enabled platform, a new streamlined process has been designed to ensure that safe transportation certificates and the information they contain can be verified from the original source and that the information is accurate and reliable.

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Successful Proof-of-Concept

To demonstrate this, the four companies have developed a successful proof-of-concept with the shipper Midea, one of the largest electrical appliance manufacturers in the world. Over GSBN, both COSCO and OOCL will be able to verify certificates obtained by Midea for their cargo directly with SICIT.

“The use of blockchain infrastructure in this proof-of-concept with SICIT allows for systematic and trusted verification to happen directly with SICIT, which, combined with the future application of data from IoT devices, will make a significant difference in risk reduction and efficiency enhancement overall.”

Bertrand Chen, CEO, GSBN

Adoption in Shipping

The adoption of blockchain technology in the shipping industry has been growing over the years, with more and more companies recognizing the benefits it brings to the table. Blockchain technology allows for increased transparency, traceability, and accountability in the supply chain, reducing the risk of fraud and errors. It also simplifies the process of sharing information across different parties in the supply chain, reducing the time and cost associated with traditional methods.

So far, other areas of transportation have adopted blockchain technology, such as aviation and logistics. In terms of logistics, FedEx, who specializes in courier services, partnered with Chain to implement blockchain technology. Hence, enable real time package tracking for its customers. As a result, there is more transparency, and prevention of lost or stolen packages.

Conclusion

The collaboration between GSBN, COSCO, OOCL, and SICIT marks a significant milestone in the adoption of blockchain technology in the shipping industry. The use of this technology will enhance the safety and efficiency of the transportation of chemical cargo, and its application in other areas of transportation will continue to grow as more companies recognize the benefits it brings to the table.

The future looks bright for blockchain technology in transportation, and we can expect to see more developments in this field in the years to come.

Source: GSBN

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