Chemical cargo becomes more secure with Blockchain-enabled OS
The global shipping industry plays a crucial role in enabling the movement of goods around the world. However, it is not without risks, especially when it comes to the transport of special cargo with designated goods such as chemicals and lithium batteries.
To address this issue, the Global Shipping Business Network (GSBN) has partnered with COSCO SHIPPING Lines, Orient Overseas Container Line and the Shanghai Research Institute of Chemical Industry Testing to leverage blockchain technology to improve transportation security in the shipping industry.
Traditionally, shippers will collect certificates from accreditation bodies to confirm that the cargo is safe to transport. However, these certificates can be difficult for carriers and subsequent carriers to verify, leading to risks such as mislabeling and fraud.
To streamline this process and ensure that the certificate data is accurate and reliable, GSBN’s blockchain-enabled platform has been used to develop a proof-of-concept with Midea, one of the largest electrical appliance manufacturers in the world.
Through the GSBN, carriers such as COSCO SHIPPING and Orient Overseas Container Line can verify certificates obtained by Midea for their cargo directly with the Shanghai Research Institute of Chemical Industry Testing.
The blockchain infrastructure attempts to ensure that the certificate data is immutable and structured, which reduces human error and increases the security of the cargo while accelerating the process overall.
The technology also aims to facilitate automated verification and circulation of reliable certificate data stored on the blockchain among multiple parties. Additionally, with the integration of IoT technology into shipping, the data generated from connected devices can further improve real-time visibility and traceability, helping to increase transportation safety.
– 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 having full control over who it is shared with as well as ownership of this data. The use of blockchain infrastructure in this proof-of-concept with SICIT enables systematic and reliable verification to occur directly with SICIT, which, combined with the future use of data from IoT devices, will make a significant difference in risk reduction and efficiency improvement overall,” said Bertrand Chen, CEO of GSBN.
“Redefining the Safe Transportation certification process by leveraging GSBN’s blockchain infrastructure is a significant breakthrough in verification. Apart from improving transportation security, the streamlined digital process also increases overall efficiency, minimizes human error caused during manual data entry, as well as provides greater transparency for all parties throughout the supply chain, said Gaojun Wang, Director of the Information Technology Department. at SICIT.
Image credit: iStockphoto/Cunaplus_M.Faba
