A shipment of 17 tonnes of almonds has successfully arrived to Hamburg from Sunraysia in Victoria, Australia, as a result of a blockchain-enabled logistics experiment promoted by Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA). In the experiment, the world’s second largest almonds producer Olam Orchards Australia Pty Ltd and CBA joined forces with Pacific National for rail haulage, the Port of Melbourne, the stevedore Patrick Terminals and the shipping line OOCL. Hardware and software support was provided by Australian IoT provider LX Group.
CBA has demonstrated a new platform based on the Ethereum blockchain technology, smart contracts and the Internet of things (IoT). The platform digitises three key areas of global trade – operations, documentation and finance – by housing the container information, completion of tasks and shipping documents.
Partners could track the location of the shipment as well as view the conditions, such as temperature and humidity inside the container. At the documentation layer, the solution allows partners to upload and access key documents, such as bill of lading, certificates of origin and other documents required by customs, which streamlined these processes and provided a greater level of transparency and efficiency.
Chris Scougall, Managing Director of Industrials and Logistics in Client Coverage, CBA said: “Our blockchain-enabled global trade platform experiment brought to life the idea of a modern global supply chain that is agile, efficient and transparent. We believe that blockchain can help our partners reduce the burden of administration on their businesses and enable them to deliver best-in-class services to their customers.”
Melissa Poon, General Manager for Trade and Development at the Port of Melbourne, said: “Emerging blockchain technology creates the potential for multi-beneficial productivity gains to Australia’s supply chain. Through understanding volume loads and shipments coming down the supply chain, we are able to prepare strategies to meet the trade demands of the future. We are excited to be involved in such a ground-breaking project.”
The new so-called distributed ledger technology has been recently gaining its popularity in various spheres and shipping is one of them. We wrote already about a joint project of Maersk and IBM to develop a blockchain-based solution that would manage transactions between shipping lines, shippers, freight forwarders, ports and customs.
Furthermore, the Australian port of Brisbane has recently implemented a blockchain-based tool – “Trade Community System” – also connecting all supply chain participants, with the view to increase international trade efficiency.
