MSC (Mediterranean Shipping Company) has announced plans to work with the Global Shipping Business Network (GSBN) on a project to manage safety certification for lithium battery shipments using blockchain technology.
The collaborative project will see MSC integrate its lithium battery shipment booking process with GSBN, which has access to testing laboratories and certification providers in China, including SICIT and Pony Testing.
Following testing, safe transportation certificates can be shared directly by the laboratories over GSBN’s blockchain network and accessed during booking by MSC, replacing paper-based processes using certificates that can be hard to verify and subject to potential mislabelling, as well as fraud.
The two companies intend to extend their collaboration to a wider group of certificates over time, as well as expanding their network of laboratories to increase the coverage for carriers.
“Our collaboration with GSBN offers the best of both worlds. We can offer customers a more streamlined experience from the point of booking, while ensuring that cargo requiring special handling can be safely transported,” said Dirk Van de Velde, Chief Health, Safety, Security and Environment Officer at MSC.
“This has only been made possible by GSBN’s blockchain network and through it, its access to top testing laboratories and certification providers in China, one of the world’s top exporters of goods with lithium-ion batteries.”
