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Technology company Global Shipping Business Network is working with COSCO, OOCL and Shanghai Research Institute of Chemical Industry Testing to improve the safe transport of chemical cargo through blockchain technology
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Industry’s first proof-of-concept for the sharing of Safe Transportation Certification achieved with Midea
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GSBN’s blockchain-enabled infrastructure ensures the certificate data is immutable and structured, which can be verified as the single source of truth
Global Shipping Business Network (GSBN) is collaborating with COSCO Shipping Lines, Orient Overseas Container Line, and the Shanghai Research Institute of Chemical Industry Testing Co. Ltd (SICIT) to make chemical cargo move safe by harnessing blockchain technology.
Together, the four companies have leveraged blockchain technology to achieve an industry first proof-of-concept that helps enhance transportation safety in the shipping industry.
Blockchain is a way of recording data that makes it impossible or difficult for the system to be changed, hacked, or manipulated. The technology uses a distributed ledger that duplicates and distributes transactions across a network of computers participating in the blockchain.
As an industry best practice, special cargo with designated goods, such as chemicals and lithium batteries, need to be certified as safe to transport before they are handed over to logistics and shipping companies for export.
This is important because carriers will manage the transportation based on the corresponding certification to mitigate the risk of potential accidents and protect crew.
For exports from China, SICIT is one of the main organizations authorized to test and issue safe transport 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.
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 safe transport certificates and the information they contain can be verified from the original source, and that the information is accurate and reliable.
The four named companies have developed a successful proof-of-concept with shipper Midea, one of the largest electrical appliances manufacturers in the world. Over GSBN, COSCO and OOCL will be able to verify directly with SICIT certificates obtained by Midea for their cargo.
GSBN’s secure, blockchain-enabled infrastructure ensures that the certificate data is immutable and structured, which can be verified as the single source of truth.
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This helps reduce human mistakes, enhance security of the cargo and accelerate the process overall. In the future, it can also facilitate the advancement in automated verification, as well as the circulation of reliable certificate data stored on the blockchain among multiple parties.
With IoT (Internet of Things) technology increasingly being integrated into shipping, data generated from connected devices can be used further to provide real-time visibility and traceability. The combined capabilities of different technological solutions deployed will ultimately help make chemical cargo move safe.
“The shipping industry is undergoing a once-in-a-lifetime digital transformation leap. As part of this, it is becoming increasingly important to be able to share information while retaining full control of who it is shared with as well as ownership of that data,” said Bertrand Chen, chief executive of GSBN.
“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.”
Gaojun Wang, director of the Information Technology Department at SICIT, said redefining the Safe Transportation certification process by harnessing GSBN’s blockchain infrastructure is a significant breakthrough in verification.
Yoyo Ju, lead of Order Fulfillment Center-Doc Management at Midea, said, this proof-of-concept is changing how people manage the shipment of goods that require special handling.
“Increasingly, we are looking for streamlined, paper-free and digitized process that can help us improve efficiency and visibility, while reducing risks and associated costs,” Ju said.
Incorporated in Hong Kong, GSBN is an independent, not-for-profit technology consortium that builds a blockchain-enabled operating system to redefine global trade. The consortium was founded by 8 global leaders in the global shipping industry that account for one in every three containers handled in the world.
Shanghai Research Institute of Chemical Industry Testing Co. Ltd (SICIT), set up on October 17, 2005, is the physical and chemical department of Shanghai Chemical Research Institute of the Ministry of Chemical Industry. SICIT is a pioneer in the classification and appraisal for dangerous chemicals in China.
