Nine shipping and port companies sign up to global digital collaboration

Friday, 28 February 2020

Nine shipping companies and terminal operators have signed an agreement indicating their intention to become shareholders of the proposed Global Shipping Business Network (GSBN).

The nine comprise some of the world’s largest terminal operators and container lines – CMA CGM, Cosco Shipping Lines, Cosco Shipping Ports, Hapag-Lloyd, Hutchison Ports, OOCL, Port of Qingdao, PSA International and Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG).

GSBN, established by logistics technology provider CargoSmart Limited, acted as a not-for-profit organization that operates and facilitates a secure and trusted data exchange platform for all stakeholders along the supply chain.

The signing of the agreement symbolized the fortified cooperation among the consortium as well as the conclusion of an important step towards the GSBN’s official establishment. Once all regulatory approvals have been obtained and the GSBN is formed, it will lead the development of innovative applications to create value to stakeholders in the supply chain, said CargoSmart.

CargoSmart will be the technology solutions provider and platform operator for the GSBN.

Martin Gnass, managing director IT of Hapag-Lloyd, said, “The signed shareholders’ agreement symbolizes an important milestone towards securing an industry-wide secured digital collaboration platform that aims to benefit all parties in the global supply chain.

“We expect the trusted blockchain platform will accelerate the sharing of verified logistics and cargo data, streamline business operations across the whole supply chain, and create value to each stakeholder.”

Ding Songbing, manager of strategy & research department of SIPG, said, “Existing data exchange and practices in the shipping industry do not adequately address all terminal operational details, leading to missed opportunities to improve overall efficiency. With terminal operators being founding members of the blockchain platform, we believe the GSBN will capitalise on new and existing opportunities on the terminal side and expedite digital transformation in the industry.”