News / Forwarder Fracht makes a smart move to use CargoX for bills of lading

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Swiss forwarder Fracht has partnered with CargoX to use its “smart” bill of lading and blockchain systems.

An agreement, reached late last week, was announced today.

Fracht chief executive Ruedi Reisdorf described CargoX as the sector’s “best start-up”.

He said: “We have teamed up with, in our opinion, the best start-up, the one that will bring in blockchain in shipping and in the bill of lading.”

The CargoX platform issues bills of lading on an Ethereum blockchain network, facilitating digital transfer of the bill and related assets from issuer, to shipper, to consignee, to release agent.

It claims the system is the first fully digital, paperless and secure original bill of lading solution.

“We always believed there’d be a revolution in digitisation of shipping, and therefore we thoroughly studied all the different aspects of digital online development,” said Mr Reisdorf.

“Then along came blockchain and we began studying the potential uses. Blockchain is ‘the thing’, but in our opinion not for everything in the world. It is very good for trade and one of the very best uses is for the bill of lading.”

Documentation will be made readily available in encrypted cloud storage. A CargoX spokesperson said this would also help in reducing paper from the supply chain.

CargoX chief executive Stefan Kukman said Fracht was one of the companies he “looks up to”.

“They are always looking at how to adapt, where to find new opportunities and how to always keep in mind the global common good,” he said. “It is very similar to how we designed our solution: by looking at the whole picture and anticipating what the future will bring.

“Not just profits, but optimal workflows, new technologies and a multitude of benefits, from speedier and safer document ownership transfer, to optimised financial flow.”