Shipping line G2 Ocean along with trading and logistics firm Manuchar have finished a pilot trial of CargoX’s smart Bill of Lading (Smart B/L) solution.
Rune Birkeland, ceo at G2 Ocean, said this development marks an important step towards retiring the antiquated paper Bill of Lading (BoL). “Paper BoLs are already considered a historic artifact. The Smart B/L solution gives both us and our clients the power of a modern, reliable, and efficient tool. It will bring cost optimisation and improved data security into their processes. The document transaction reliability in this system is undisputable," he explained.
The two companies concluded their test of the blockchain-based Smart B/L system this April. During the test, they transferred ownership of goods on shipments traveling from China to Peru.
Five separate breakbulk shipments were delivered with five Smart B/Ls. They departed the port of Xingang (China) on April 5 2019, and reached the port of discharge, Callao (Peru) on May 26. The distance between ports is 9,504 nautical miles; the importer received the Smart B/Ls after a couple of minutes.
A great deal has been written about the potential application of the latest generation of integrated IT systems in the logistics supply chain. Both G2 Ocean and Manuchar expressed their satisfaction with the pilot project.
The solution is powered by the blockchain document transaction system (BDTS) technology. Compared to classic IT systems, the CargoX Smart B/L enables users to clearly state and transfer ownership, create BoLs, and also attach other accompanying documentation in electronic format.
Leif Arne Strømmen, vice president of innovation at G2 Ocean, said: "G2 Ocean considers smart contracts based on distributed ledgers or blockchain as a unique opportunity to digitalise and automate manual processes between its clients and subcontractors. The BoL is one of two priority areas in 2019 using blockchain technology. Based on these successful pilots, our next step will be to scale this up and offer it as a value-added service to our clients.”
He added that the cooperation with Manuchar continues and further Smart B/Ls have been successfully submitted from G2 Ocean in Shanghai to Manuchar via blockchain. “We are also discussing the extension of the pilot to new countries and customers of Manuchar.”
Details around the scale-up of the Smart B/L solution will be made available when G2 Ocean has finished its ongoing pilot projects. “We will then offer this as a value-added service to all our customers who are using negotiable BoLs and/or letters of credit,” said Strømmen.
He added that G2 Ocean is in the process of doing full-scale pilots with two other customers.
