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The Singapore Shipping Association (SSA) together with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and Blockchain startup Perlin are together working on the International E-Registry of Ships (IERS) system.

The three entities hope the system will “drastically improve the currently laborious ship registration and renewal process”, according to a joint press release on Monday. The statement also added that the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore is supporting the initiative by sharing the IERS ship-registration process. The authority is also exploring an open Application Programming Interface in the registry process.

Moreover, the IERS system will be based on Perlin’s Wavelet. This is an open ledger for writing decentralized WebAssembly applications. Moreover, the e-register will run on self-executing smart contracts. This will help reducing time, costs and occurrence of errors during the registration process. As per the release, if the system succeeds, the ICC will advocate for global adoption of IERS standards.

In addition, Singapore is the world’s fifth-largest registry with a fleet of about 4,500 ships. This translates to 91 million gross tonnes. It is expected IERS will improve efficiency in the ship registration process.

Is Blockchain the Answer in the Maritime sector?

Interestingly, there has been a rise in demand for Blockchain-powered solutions in the maritime industry. Back in August, Thailand Customs Department partnered with IBM’s Tradelens Blockchain. The system will offer ship tracking solutions and information sharing amongst Thai ports.

In addition, in July Ocean Network Express and Hapag-Lloyd shipping companies signed up with blockchain tracking platform TradeLens. The objective of this platform is to increase efficiency by cutting costs, reducing paperwork and saving time in the logistics sector.

In conclusion, in the ideal world, the maritime industry would benefit most if all shipping companies were interconnected. With shipping companies in one Blockchain; there would be no need to make a choice between platforms.