Canadian Pacific recently joined TradeLens, the IBM and Maersk blockchain joint initiative, to deploy the blockchain system within the transcontinental railway’s documentation process. The company has tracks in Canada and the U.S. with direct links to major ports on the west and east coasts.
TradeLens’ blockchain-based platform was specifically developed to “enable the secure and transparent” transfer, sharing and storage of information in the container-shipping industry. The system integrates the client’s in-house systems via APIs. TradeLens uses the IBM Blockchain Platform, which is based on the permissioned Hyperledger Fabric blockchain.
Canadian Pacific expects the platform to expedite how intermodal shippers – those that connect shipping with road transport – to share documents with other supply chain participants. “Global shipping is a profoundly complex business,” said Canadian Pacific VP and CIO Mile Redeker. “TradeLens is improving the information-sharing processes that support the industry”.
The railway is the tenth intermodal carrier to join the TradeLens’s network. That’s on top of a large proportion of the world’s biggest container shipping firms. Five of the top six ocean carriers have been using the platform for over a year. More recently, Turkish ports group YILPORT Holdings, which plans to become a top ten global operator by 2025, integrated the digital shipping platform, as well as significant ports in Vietnam and Sri Lanka.
Although Port terminals represent the largest proportion of TradeLens members, other industry sectors, including intermodal operators like CP, also participate in the platform. Dubai’s port logistics operator DP World, Standard Chartered bank, and a few Custom Departments are all part of the network.
