China Cosco Shipping and Alibaba have teamed up to promote the application of blockchain in the shipping and logistics industries.
In a web statement, Cosco said it would work with Ant Financial Services, the fintech affiliate of e-commerce giant Alibaba, to study how to adopt the technology in shipping, logistics, ports and finance. All three companies signed a strategic cooperation agreement to carry out the effort.
“We would like to cooperate with all parties on technologies like blockchain, the Internet of Things and 5G,” Cosco chairman Xu Lirong said.
“The aim is to achieve the seamless connection and smooth operation of the cargo, money and information flows across the shipping industry chain…and to initiate the digitalised transformation and cooperative innovation of the logistic supply chain.”
Ant chief executive Eric Jing, whose company boasts more blockchain patents than any other in the world, said the outfit wants to create a leading supply chain with Cosco based on technologies like blockchain.
“With the combination of technology and logistics…we want to have a more transparent, efficient and smooth way to trade globally,” Jing said.
No further details have been provided on how the companies plan to apply blockchain to shipping.
Several shipping-related initiatives have been launched in the past few years to adopt blockchain in the global supply chain, with the most advanced efforts seen in the container industry.
In 2018, Maersk and IBM established a joint venture to launch a blockchain platform to reduce transit time and costs.
Hapag-Lloyd, Ocean Network Express, CMA CGM and Mediterranean Shipping Co later jointed the TradeLens platform, which has grown to cover half of the world’s ocean container cargo.
As for Cosco, China’s largest shipping conglomerate, the state conglomerate teamed up with eight container lines and terminal groups to develop the Global Shipping Business Network (GSBN) in 2018.
The GSBN was set up to develop a global blockchain-based platform to speed up shipping transactions, according to its members.
