The first ever blockchain-based CargoX Smart B/L™ completes trial shipment from China to Europe
The container, processed with the revolutionary new blockchain-based CargoX Smart Bill of Lading™, has been released successfully in the Port of Koper, Slovenia (EU), where it arrived on Sunday, 19 August 2018, completing its journey from Shanghai (China) aboard the cargo ship Ever Safety, and was shipped by one of the world’s largest freight forwarders, the company said in its press release.
The Bill of Lading for this shipment has been issued electronically and transferred with the help of an ultra-secure and reliable public blockchain network in just minutes instead of days or weeks, and the chances of loss, theft or damage to the Bill of Lading have been dramatically reduced to near-zero.
At $15, the cost of such a safe electronic Bill of Lading was a mere fraction, approximately 15% of the estimated usual price for a paper document to be transferred through courier services across the globe.
The whole process was completely official, compliant and hassle-free, which has been unanimously confirmed by all the partakers in Asia and Europe.
The importer was the company Metro d.d., better known for their network of MANA clothing stores throughout the CEE region, with a chain of 200 shops. "We are extremely happy to be able to confirm that all went well with the new blockchain-based electronic Bill of Lading, as this will give us the opportunity to lower the cost of importing goods significantly. We import hundreds of TEU from the Far East, and we are always trying hard to optimize our supply chain. If it raises the safety and reliability of the document transfer, that is an added value for us as well!" said Miloš Košir, logistics manager of Metro d.d..
The exporter, the Hangzhou Doko Garments Co. Ltd., is one of the 1,000+ manufacturing plants in the Hangzhou region, which represent 50% of China’s roughly 600 ready-to-wear brands focused on the upper-middle class women’s fashion market. Their CEO, Mr. Lin, approves of the CargoX Smart B/L™:”We were glad to comply with the new process, as it was really easy and swift to implement, and the possibility to oversee where the B/L currently is and always have the archive accessible are advantages that we really think could bring a great benefit to us. We are looking into the opportunity and the effect it would have on our company as a whole.”
CargoX, led by Stefan Kukman, founder, and CEO, is now confirming the availability of the blockchain-based Smart B/L™ to business customers, with many successful trials already underway.
“Our initial idea was to solve one problem at a time and not to solve all the problems that the shipping industry is facing at once. Looking at the current situation we made a proper decision and sticking to our game plan is paying out. By successfully completing the official test shipment we are concluding our development and testing phase of our CargoX Smart B/L™ solution, which will now be available to all logistics and shipping companies who want to reduce their Bill of Lading issuing and processing costs by up to 85 %, as well as save weeks waiting for the document, and who also want to have complete security and document ownership transfer capabilities,” said Stefan Kukman, CEO and founder of CargoX, a blockchain solution provider for the logistics and shipping industry.
CargoX plans to be present at major logistics fairs and events, and customer trials of the solution are available from September 2018.
The shipment of garments was sent on Friday, 27 July 2018.
The shipment in question was a 20-foot (1 TEU) container, containing 24.8 cbm (cubic meters) of garment cargo, weighing 3752 kg.
The container was loaded in the port of Shanghai, China, and it was discharged in the port of Koper, Slovenia (European Union).
The ship carrying it was the Ever Safety, a 299.99 x 42.8 m cargo ship built in 2007.
