By TradeLens, the shipping blockchain platform which was co-created by IBM and Maersk recently announced that it has recruited two renowned marine carriers to the platform after earlier marketing efforts had failed.
The new additions to the blockchain are the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), the second largest shipping company in the world after Maersk, and CMA-CGM, the fourth largest.
MSC and CMA-CGM will join several other carriers, including in other carriers Asia’s Pacific International Lines (PIL), Zim Integrated Shipping Services, and Maersk subsidiary Hamburg Süd. When combined, these shipping companies account for almost 50% of the world’s ocean container data, according to IBM.
Furthermore, TradeLens also plays host to more than 100 supply chain operators, including shipping, freight forwarding, port authorities, cargo owners and more.
The achievement in bringing some of Maersk’s biggest rivals onto the same IBM platform cannot be underestimated in such a competitive industry which has narrow margins for IT revamps as well as widespread distrust amongst competitors.
Of course, TradeLens did experience a degree of difficulty in bringing rival carriers together on the platform in light of concerns from certain parties that IBM and Maersk owned the intellectual property in a joint venture deal.
While these concerns are still being addressed, it did not come down to the issue of having to share actual ownership. An IBM spokeswoman explained:
“IBM and Maersk continue to be the sole owners of the TradeLens platform. The nature of an effective blockchain is to create an environment where multiple parties, often competitors, want to co-exist. Both CMA CGM and MSC are participating on the advisory board as part of the shared commitment to open governance.”
IBM Blockchain’s general manager, Marie Wieck stated that Big Blue entirely stayed true to its blockchain architectural principles of open source collaboration, and emphasized that every party owns their data and has the full authority to permit who gets to see it as well, the privacy implications that come with it.
Wieck stated:
“They [carriers] they took a good hard look at this and saw the clear benefits of joining. This is real momentum that you are seeing in the market play out here. Now with CMA and MSC, it really has reached a tipping point in terms of market maturity.”
CMA CGM and MSC will facilitate a blockchain node on the Hyperledger Fabric-based distributed ledger and participate in consensus for the validation of transactions. Thus, all carries will assume the vital role of acting as Trust Anchors AKA validators for the entire network. In addition to this, CMA CGM and MSC will form part of the TradeLens Advisory Board to assist in the promotion of the neutrality of the platform, according to IBM.
Executive vice president for IT and transformations at CMA CGM Group, Rajesh Krishnamurthy, in a statement said:
“We believe that TradeLens, with its commitment to open standards and open governance, is a key platform to help usher in this digital transformation.TradeLens’ network is already showing that participants from across the supply chain ecosystem can derive significant value.”
Chief digital & information officer, MSC, André Simha added:
“The TradeLens platform has enormous potential to spur the industry to digitize the supply chain and build collaboration around common standards. We think that the TradeLens Advisory Board, as well as standards bodies such as the Digital Container Shipping Association, will help accelerate that effort.”
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