Global technology research and advisory company Technavio has published a report highlighting the penetration of blockchain technology in marine transportation as one of the key trends in the global refrigerated sea transportation market.

Letter of credit (L/C) processing is amongst the documentation processes identified as benefiting from blockchain technology in the Global Refrigerated Sea Transportation Market 2018-2022 report.

Increased transparency

The report concludes that blockchain technology assists in increasing the transparency of and reducing the possibilities of data corruption or data alteration during transactions between two parties.

It notes that Asian countries including China and Japan have already adopted this technology in several industries, including the pharmaceutical and service sectors.

The report anticipates that about 9% of the world gross product will be secured by the blockchain technique by 2025.

Documentation processes

Commenting on the report, a senior analyst at Technavio for research on transportation and distribution says marine transportation includes substantial documentation including L/Cs, charter party agreements, bills of lading, sales contracts, port documents, and others that pass through a long chain of parties.

"The documentation process in marine transportation becomes an accurate and quick process, offering complete transparency and security due to the adoption of blockchain technology," he concludes.

This article represents the views of the author and not necessarily those of the ICC or Coastline Solutions.