Container Logistics Blockchain Pilot Launched in Rotterdam

The Port of Rotterdam Authority, Samsung SDS and ABN AMRO are preparing to launch a container logistics blockchain pilot.

The pilot will seek to use blockchain technology to build a platform for efficient and paperless administration processes for the international finance and logistics surrounding container transport. The result should make it just as easy to transport, track and finance goods and services as it is to order a book online.

Currently payments, administration and the physical transportation of containers still take place almost entirely via separate circuits.

The pilot will integrate all those separate flows. ABN AMRO’s CEO of Commercial Banking Daphne de Kluis explains, "We will be integrating all these flows in our pilot: from workflow management combined with track & trace to the digitization of paper documentation such as waybills and the financing of handled freight or services. The ultimate goal is to reach an open, independent and global platform that operates from the perspective of shippers. This will make the logistics chain more transparent and efficient, and millions of euros can be saved in the long term."
Arjan van Os, Head of Group Innovation, adds that this partnership has created not only a new financial standard, but in fact an entirely new industry standard.

The pilot uses blockchain technology. Blockchain offers all parties in the logistics chain a ‘single point of truth’, using validated data and without central management. Digitization provides automation, which creates an ultra-efficient logistics chain. What is particularly special about the project is that, for the first time in the rather short history of this technology, different blockchains are operating together. This takes place via an overarching ‘notary’ that connects entirely separate blockchains in Korea and the Netherlands.

The pilot involves the multi-modal transport of a container from a factory in Korea to a location in the Netherlands. In the first instance, the pilot will be implemented by the three parties, but the cooperative network will then become open for other parties to join. The pilot will be conducted in January next year.