Containerized immutable maritime data sharing utilizing Distributed Ledger Technologies

Abstract

In recent years, distributed ledger technologies (DLTs), especially blockchain technology, has become a popular topic and is being implemented in different industries. Ships are expected to be equipped with more advanced equipment and less crew onboard. The communication and information sharing between different maritime stakeholders such as business partners, port authorities, tax authorities, class societies, flag states, IMO and EU become more important than ever. Trust and authenticity are key properties when utilizing data for safety or business critical applications, and will only increase in importance as automation levels increase towards fully autonomous ships and trading systems. The implementation of DLTs as close as possible to the data source helps provide a reliable, trustworthy way to share, process and verify the data. The objective of this paper is to explore how tamperfree maritime data sharing can enable automated transactions between vessels and shore-based entities. Singapores TradeTrust platform has shown that digitalization of international trade has great potential. In this paper we explore how further enhancements may be implemented and how the distributed ledger VeChain, as compared to Ethereum, have some distinct advantages that may be beneficial for continued automation and efficiency gains. The electronic Bill of Lading was taken as an example to demonstrate the concept. Reporting requirements from the other maritime data sharing scenarios are also expected to require a way of ensuring tamperfree data.