Port of Rotterdam Partners With Blockchain Startup to Innovate Cargo Tracking

The Port of Rotterdam Authority has signed a cooperation agreement with Dutch blockchain startup CargoLedger to use the technology for cargo tracking, Transport Online reported yesterday, June 14th.

As part of its PortXL annual accelerator, the port authority has partnered with CargoLedger to implement a blockchain solution for tracking shiploads. The technology will be applied in order to improve quality control in supply chains and establish a transparent and secure system to innovate the management and handling of cargo.

The blockchain system will record and process data from labeled shiploads, which can be scanned by receivers in Rotterdam’s ports in order to gain immediate insight into the conditions of the load, such as its temperature and humidity.

Blockchain’s potential to provide a tamper-proof tracking of products and efficient data evaluation is being recognized by an increasing number of global logistics industry giants.

Earlier this week, Deutsche Bahn’s global transport and logistics division revealed it was partnering with blockchain startup VeChain (VEN) on a decentralized application (DApp), which can be used to score third-party logistics partners based on an evaluation of services such as packaging, transportation, and the quality of goods.

At a US Congress hearing on blockchain in May, the vice president for global customs brokerage at shipping giant UPS proposed that a global blockchain-based shipment tracking system would help to ‘reduce frictions’ and bring greater ‘integrity, transparency, interoperability, and security’ to international shipments, benefiting corporations “of all sizes.”

In January, leading members of the logistics industry  – which employs the most people in the world – told Cointelegraph that blockchain technology is a “matchless solution” for innovating the transfer of goods, services and value globally.