Global container carriers CMA CGM and MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) has announced they will join TradeLens, a blockchain-enabled digital shipping platform, jointly developed by A.P. Moller - Maersk and IBM.
With CMA CGM, MSC, Maersk, and other carriers committed to the platform, data for nearly half of the world’s ocean container cargo will be available on TradeLens. The addition of CMA CGM and MSC will provide a significant boost to the TradeLens vision of greater trust, transparency, and collaboration across supply chains to help promote global trade. The companies will promote TradeLens and create complementary services on top of the platform for their customers and partners.
TradeLens enables participants to connect, share information and collaborate across the shipping supply chain ecosystem. Members gain a comprehensive view of their data and can digitally collaborate as cargo moves around the world, helping create a transparent, secured, immutable record of transactions.
The attributes of blockchain technology are ideally suited to large networks of disparate partners. Blockchain establishes a shared, immutable record of all the transactions that take place within a network and enables permissioned parties access to trusted data in real time.
With more than 100 participants on the platform today, TradeLens is already processing over ten million discrete shipping events and thousands of documents each week, providing shippers, carriers, freight forwarders, customs officials, port authorities, inland transportation providers, and others a common view of transactions, which can build trust. A commitment to data ownership rights and permissioned access to data helps ensure privacy and confidentiality while enabling users to collaborate more efficiently with real-time access to shipping data.
CMA CGM and MSC to Play an Important Role in the TradeLens Network
CMA CGM and MSC will operate a blockchain node, participate in consensus to validate transactions, host data, and assume the critical role of acting as Trust Anchors, or validators, for the network. CMA CGM and MSC will be on the TradeLens Advisory Board which will include members across the supply chain to advise on standards for neutrality and openness.
