Mitsui OSK lines (MOL) , one of Japans biggest freight companies, has announced the beginning of its very own demonstration test for a potential blockchain based ledger platform to be developed particularly for “cross border trade operations”. Funded by the likes of the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking corporation and the Sumimoto Mitsui Financial group, the test will be developed with the Hyperledger Fabric blockchain platform which was developed by Hyperledger.
Marine trade remains one of the biggest industries on the planet and bitcoin is set to modernizes this ancient trade. We have previously discussed potential blockchain use by the Maersk Corporation to streamline the international trade process, giving customers unprecedented insight into the location and state of their product – while in transit.
“The test is intended to verify the effectiveness of blockchain for enhancing security and reducing the time required to settle cross-border trade transactions, discrepancies among related documents and administrative costs.”
Mitsui OSK Lines
To conclude, while Maersk have Microsoft as their digital partner, Mitsui OSK lines have partnered up with IBM as a principle backer for the project. Funded by the Sumimoto Mitsui Financial Group, the company aims to invest in what may become the future of international trade. With aims of making the process cheaper and more reliable, the group aim to use the transparency afforded by blockchain technology to give consumer and corporations increased protection. Currently there is no date set for the launch of the application but MOL aim to develop a holistic platform which will be able to incorporate the various parts of a international transaction , including insurance, logistics and catering for the initial transactions themselves.
