Tesla partners with blockchain pilot to accelerate maritime deliveries

A new blockchain consortium is about to see the light of day in the sectors of sea ​​and port transport. The automaker You're here participated in the testing of a private blockchain aimed at speeding up the process of recovering goods in ports.

The maritime and air transport sectors both show an interest in the potential of blockchain in their operations. In the maritime sector, a new experiment was carried out at the end of last year.

The pilot thus assembled the transporter Cosco, the Shanghai International Port Authority, the automaker Tesla and the technology supplier CargoSmart. In December 2019, these companies therefore tested a blockchain application aimed at transforming the cargo release process.

Digital maritime waybills on the blockchain

These operations are still very often based on paper-based and complex administrative procedures, which are likely to generate delays and therefore costs for stakeholders. Through a pilot, these manufacturers therefore first gathered and shared the same data source.

This delivery information was exchanged in real time between the shipping company and the operator of the port terminal through the blockchain.

The pilot project has not only demonstrated the benefits of a single, reliable source of truth for cargo documentation, but also the efficiency gains for industry participants, "CargoSmart said.

Very concretely, the blockchain application tested aims to reduce the verification steps between recipients, shipping agents and carriers in order to speed up the delivery of sea ​​waybills.

The digitalization and simplification of these processes should therefore allow truckers to recover their cargo at the terminal more quickly. For shippers, this must translate into better compliance with delivery times and guarantees in terms of quality of service for customers.

Faster merchandise recovery for Tesla

Blockchain use by the carrier Cosco and the port of Shanghai has thus enabled the industrialist You're here, owned by Elon Musk, "to speed up its cargo removal procedures on a reliable and secure platform. "

To achieve this, the port operator therefore had access to a "single and reliable source of maritime waybill data" from the sea carrier. The key: a gain in the preparation of delivery orders for recipients and their shipping agents.

According to Henry Huang, Executive Director General of the Port Operations and Affairs Department, "This pilot project is a key element in our journey towards dematerialized, reliable and frictionless business processes at the port of Shanghai. "

Blockchain pilots in other Asian ports

After this experiment, the blockchain application was enriched with new functionalities. CargoSmart specifies that since the end of March, the platform now indicates the exit point for goods, the date of the appointment and the delivery terminal. This data should provide shippers with better visibility of their cargo.

Developments are also continuing and will benefit the members of a blockchain consortium being set up in the maritime transport sector: Global Shipping Business Network (GSBN).

Other similar pilots are also planned in Asian ports, including those of Qingdao in China and Laem Chabang in Thailand.

The goal is to broaden the scope of the pilot by involving more carriers and terminals, and possibly extend the pilot to other industry participants in the near future, "said CargoSmart.