Rotterdam Port, Partners Launch Container Logistics Blockchain Pilot

ABN AMRO, the Port of Rotterdam Authority and Samsung SDS, the logistics and IT arm of Samsung, have joined forces to launch a container logistics pilot based on blockchain technology.

The parties informed that their goal is for a complete, paperless integration of physical, administrative and financial streams within international distribution chains.

“Currently payments, administration and the physical transportation of containers still take place entirely via separate circuits,” explained Paul Smits, the Port of Rotterdam Authority’s Chief Financial Officer.

“This results in inefficiency as many parties are involved and everything is organised via paper documentation… The transportation, monitoring and financing of freight and services should be just as easy as ordering a book online.”

The development of the pilot was assigned to BlockLab, which was established by the Port of Rotterdam Authority.

The pilot involves the multi-modal transport of a container from a factory in Asia to a location in the Netherlands. In the first instance, the pilot will be implemented by the three parties, but the cooperative network will then become open for other parties to join. The pilot starts in January next year, and the results will be announced in February 2019.