CargoX provides blockchain FreightTech to former TradeLens users

by Arthur · February 21, 2023

CargoX has announced a collaboration with CEBS Worldwide. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

Blockchain document transfer facilitator CargoX announced on Tuesday that it will partner with CEBS Worldwide to facilitate the digitization of waybills for former TradeLens customers.

In 2018, IBM and GTD Solution, a division of Maersk, launched the blockchain platform TradeLens with the main goal of leveraging technology to eliminate the use of paper BOLs in global shipping.

While TradeLens was able to board global carriers – CMA CGM, MSC Mediterranean Shipping Co., Hapag-Lloyd, Ocean Network Express and Zim Integrated Shipping Services – it announced in November 2022 that it would close due to a lack of a path to profitability.

“Unfortunately, while we have developed a viable platform, the need for full global industry collaboration has not been achieved. As a result, TradeLens has not reached the level of commercial viability necessary to continue its work and meet the financial expectations of an independent business,” said Rotem Hershko, head of business platforms for Maersk at the time.

Now CEBS Worldwide, a major integrator of TradeLens’ product, is joining forces with CargoX to provide former TradeLens customers with a working blockchain solution for digitizing BOL operations.

“We are committed to digitizing the supply chain network for all trading partners and ensuring that all transactions and documents exchanged are secure, traceable and immutable. We have great partnerships and teams working with the public and private sectors to shape the future and usher in a new era of global trade that is both frictionless and compliant, says Satish Swaroop, CEO of CEBS Worldwide.

According to both companies, the transition should be easy for customers looking for a similar TradeLens product, and CargoX has already partnered with a number of industry groups looking to standardize blockchain and data standards in the industry, including the Digital Container Shipping Association (DCSA).

“To create an innovative mobile application for any industry, you need a standardized way to communicate data through API integrations. We’re not trying to standardize every company’s mobile application, just how they communicate that data,” said Ellen Sun, Chief Marketing Officer at DCSA. FreightWaves.

Using these global standards, CargoX helped Egypt adopt its National Single Window for Foreign Trade (NAFEZA), merging more than 26 cargo clearance systems and eliminating the need for over 10 additional customs documents for goods entering and leaving the country.

In January, CargoX also proved interoperability for eBOLs after transferring global trade documents for a shipment between the blockchain solution and competitor edoxOnline. The transfer brought the traditionally long transfer process down to six minutes.

“The digitization of trade documentation is in full swing worldwide, and companies need all the support and advice they can get to implement the optimal solutions in their daily workflow,” said CargoX CEO Stefan Kukman in the CEBS partnership’s news release.

“We see demand increasing daily, and more than 104,000 companies registered on our platform prove that the CargoX platform is becoming a standard item in the toolboxes of modern supply chain participants.”