GSBN: Transforming Global Trade with Blockchain
The Global Shipping Business Network (GSBN), a neutral, non-profit consortium, is set to revolutionize global trade through a collaborative blockchain platform designed to streamline operations and promote sustainability. Developed in partnership with Oracle, Microsoft, AntChain, and Alibaba Cloud, GSBN utilizes Hyperledger Fabric to provide an enterprise-grade, permissioned blockchain framework that securely digitizes processes across the shipping industry, addressing issues such as paper-based workflows, collaboration barriers, and limited real-time data access.
GSBN: A New Digital Utility for Global Trade
GSBN is dedicated to modernizing the shipping industry with digital transformation. By digitizing key processes—cargo release, trade finance, and the Electronic Bill of Lading (eBL)—GSBN accelerates data exchange and reduces port congestion and pollution, enhancing both operational efficiency and environmental sustainability. GSBN’s blockchain-based solution consolidates data, enabling trusted, immutable records and providing real-time visibility to all industry participants, including carriers, terminals, and trade finance banks. This shift away from paperwork aims to standardize and accelerate global trade, removing inefficiencies that have long hindered the industry.
Goals and Approach
With a mission to establish a critical mass of members across the global shipping ecosystem, GSBN’s goals include:
- Modernizing the Shipping Industry: Using blockchain for transparency and speed
- Fostering Collaboration: Recruiting shipping lines and terminals to the platform and bridging gaps between competitors
- Expanding Use Cases: Developing applications like Cargo Release, Trade Finance, and eBL to support and transform global trade processes
The consortium recognized that failing to digitize posed a risk to the industry, especially as recent global events exposed vulnerabilities in traditional trade processes. With this urgency in mind, GSBN launched a multi-jurisdictional blockchain platform where every GSBN member has a dedicated Hyperledger Fabric instance, while many leverage shared nodes managed by GSBN. This flexibility addresses data sovereignty and localization concerns, critical for a global consortium with diverse regulatory requirements.
Success Stories in Cargo Release and Trade Finance
In August 2021, GSBN rolled out its first use case, Cargo Release, which reduces the lengthy paperwork and waiting times associated with cargo handovers, making it possible to complete in hours instead of days. Since its launch, Cargo Release has benefited over 10,000 customers and facilitated 1.5 million shipments, cutting down on port congestion and enabling faster, paperless processing.
Next, GSBN addressed the Trade Finance Gap, collaborating with Bank of China (Hong Kong), DBS Bank, and HSBC to form the Trade Finance Advisory Group. This initiative simplifies banks’ verification processes and provides SMEs with access to financing based on accurate, blockchain-backed data. This trust in data enables financial institutions to streamline trade finance approvals, helping to bridge the gap that leaves 40% of SME financing applications unapproved.
The Third Use Case: Electronic Bill of Lading (eBL)
GSBN has now introduced the eBL application, developed by IQAX and approved by the International Group of P&I Clubs, to further modernize documentation. The eBL provides a digital alternative to traditional bills of lading, which are still required in physical form for 40% of shipments. By digitizing this process, the eBL reduces paperwork, accelerates data accessibility, and creates a traceable, secure source of truth. The IQAX eBL application is already in use by major shipping lines and has potential industry-wide benefits, with McKinsey estimating that full adoption could unlock $6.5 billion in cost savings and nearly $40 billion in new trade volume globally.
A Future-Forward Platform
GSBN envisions an open ecosystem where application builders and industry participants contribute solutions that further digitalize global trade. This collaborative vision, combined with GSBN’s partnerships with banks, fintech companies, and technology providers, demonstrates how blockchain can redefine an industry by reducing friction, increasing resilience, and promoting sustainability.
As Edmund To, CTO of GSBN, says, “We’re excited to explore the different applications that could be built on top of GBSN with the Hyperledger community. That’s how we’ll jointly promote the digital transformation of global trade.”
Image source: Hyperledger’s website