The Danish transport and logistics giant A.P. Moller-Maersk plans to launch two blockchain applications in collaboration with IBM (NYSE:IBM), according to Tim Smith, the head of the company’s Asia-Pacific division. Speaking in Seoul at an event organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea, the executive said that the two apps would boost visibility and efficiency in the shipping trade. Elsewhere, Maersk has started to use Insurwave, a blockchain platform for marine insurance created by EY and Guardtime.
Maersk and IBM have been collaborating for the last two years to digitize shipping procedures. In January, the two companies announced the creation of a blockchain platform to speed up processing and cut costs. At that time, the Maersk said that the system would be ready by mid-2018.
According to Smith, two blockchain applications are on the way, one that improves the visibility of a product’s supply chain, and another that cuts paperwork and bureaucracy.
Last week, “Big Four” professional services firm EY and Guardtime launched the first blockchain-based platform for marine insurance, with Maersk being one of the commercial users. It is reported that the platform will handle over 500,000 automated transactions and support risk management for over 1,000 commercial vessels in the first 12 months.
Lars Henneberg, Maersk’s head of risk and insurance, commented:
“Our ambition is to drive the digital transformation of the transport and logistics industry and we see this platform as a testament to the value that can be extracted from streamlining areas of our industry that still rely on manual and often complex procedures.”
“Operating around 350 owned container vessels across the world, marine insurance takes up considerable resources for us. Moving it to this platform is helping us automate manual processes and alleviate a range of inefficiencies and frictional costs in the way we have used to trade marine insurance,” he said.
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