Nine Chilean cargo shipping companies approved to develop joint blockchain platform

Chile’s National Economic Prosecutor’s Office, or FNE, has granted approval to nine national freight maritime cargo companies to establish a joint venture to develop a blockchain platform, the first of its kind in the region.

According to Mundo Maritimo, the platform will be named Global Shipping Business Network, or GSBN. It aims to handle all the processes related to maritime cargo, such as document issuance and cargo clearance, among other services.

The solution is also expected to be offered to other companies in the industry and not just those involved in its development. As per the resolution issued by the national office, CMA CGM, Cosco Shipping Lines, Cosco Shipping Ports, SIPG, Hapag-Lloyd, Hutchison Ports, OOCL, PSA and Qingdao Port will be in charge of Global Shipping Network’s development. The budget for the blockchain platform’s development was not disclosed.

Commercially sensitive information is not expected to be transferred through the GSBN blockchain platform, and Cointelegraph Spanish reported this meant it was possible to rule out the concern that the use of the GSBN platform could facilitate “coordination” between shipping constituents.

The project has been presented to competition agencies of the United States, South Korea, Poland and Ukraine, but there are no reports on their opinions about the platform as of press time.

Companies involved in the project were advised by Philippi Prietocarrizosa Ferrero DU & Uría, which is led by the Free Competition partner Ignacio Larraín together with the associates Álvaro Espinosa, Gabriel Budnik and Matías Palma, who are well-known players in the local cargo industry.

Recently, the Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands launched a blockchain-based pilot with some of the world’s leading shipping companies to improve the safety and efficiency of millions of containers that are unloaded in the port every year.