IBM And Maersk’s TradeLens Blockchain Shipping Service To Be Used By Russian Ministry Of Transport

Russian Ministry Of Transport Plans A Try Blockchain Shipping Solution TradeLens

TradeLens has become one of the biggest names in international shipping. Recently, they added another big project to their resume. The Ministry of Transport of Russia recently announced that they have plans to try TradeLens as a blockchain shipping solution.

The news was broken by Russian financial media Kommersnt who received a copy of a letter addressed to Maxim Akimov, the Russian Deputy Prime Minister. The platform will operate on the basis of smart contracts and should replace labor-intensive paperwork. The system was developed by Maersk-IBM joint venture, where Maersk has 51%. They are creating a single digital space that unites all participants in the supply chains: traders, transport companies, ports, carriers, government agencies, etc.

The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) has cleared the project. The FSB recommended working out devices to overcome information security risks, ensure the independence of the Russian segment, attract Russian specialists, and also separately discuss the issue of guarantees of the continued participation of Russian organizations in the application of US sanctions.

TradeLens is essentially a service that was devised by IBM and Maersk to serve as the foundational base for a whole host of digital supply chains (in order to streamline international barter and exchange). It is also worth mentioning that as things stand, there are more than 100 financial entities across the globe that have shown a keen interest in taking part in the pilot program. The Customs Authorities of Saudi Arabia, recently announced that they successfully completed the testing of a pilot scheme that will link the country’s native cross-border trade platform FASAH with TradeLens.

TradeLens was built on top of the IBM Blockchain, which uses Hyperledger Fabric, an open source relative of Linux, which opens the possibility of IBM using this product together with other Hyperledger projects. Other platforms like TradeShift and Citigroup’s project are also targeting this same area and it means that even if TradeLens tries to market itself as neutral as possible to get the market, it will have many other companies trying to take its place.