Blockchain technology has been slowly infiltrating the public sector with national cryptocurrencies on the rise and blockchain verified legal apparatuses. Now the distributed ledger technology permeates out from the courtroom and banks, as a sea-faring blockchain technology is deployed at the Abu Dhabi Ports.
New South Wales plans to record property transactions and port tests to bring a new level of transparency to the trades coming in and out of Abu Dhabi Ports. This should work to improve trade flow and remove outdated pen-and-paper protocols from the shipping industry.
International seaborne freights transporting between Abu Dhabi Ports’ subsidiary Maqta Gateway and the Port of Antwerp signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to launch the blockchain pilot program, Silsal. The pilot will test how involved parties will manage international trade documentation on the blockchain-based ledger. The goods traded between Belgium and Abu Dhabi will be tracked via Silsal platform to bolster the chain-of-custody.
Abu Dhabi Ports manage 11 major ports across two separate countries. Mohamed Juma Al, CEO, believes that Silsal platform will usher in “fast, reliable, and secure,” transport and deliver improved services. Seaborne freights aren’t the only early blockchain adopters, mega shipping companies like FedEx have their own plans to track deliverables.
In early October, one of the bigger ports in Spain rolled out plans to integrate blockchain to construct a “smart port” on the coastal city of Valencia. The U.K.’s major port operator Associated British Ports is also working to get their logistics on-chain to reduce costs and automate processes via smart contracts.
It is expected that blockchain will help to save millions, if not billions, across the shipping vertical and create a more streamlined protocol for back-office operations and physical shipping freight logistics from manufacturer to end-user. Traceability to crucial for high-functioning global resource distribution and the blockchain makes this data secure, immutability, and updated in real-time.
