COPENHAGEN, Denmark and ARMONK, N.Y.,, Oct. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Major global container carriers CMA CGM and MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) today announced they are now integrated onto TradeLens (www.tradelens.com), helping ensure a more fully integrated, timely and consistent view of logistics data for their containerized freight around the world. The digital platform is run on IBM Cloud (NYSE:IBM) and IBM Blockchain, and was jointly developed by IBM and A.P. Moller - Maersk (MAERSKb.CO).

These two global shipping leaders, together with Maersk, will act as platform foundation carriers with a role in expanding the ecosystem and platform operations, including playing key roles as validators on the blockchain network.

The addition of these two major global shipping leaders marks a crucial milestone for the industry, which until now has too often relied on paper-based trade and manual document handling that lead to increased costs and reduced business continuity. Maersk, MSC, CMA CGM and IBM, together with the expanding TradeLens network of terminals, customs authorities and 3PL and intermodal providers, are ushering in a transformation designed to benefit all network participants by making it easier to quickly and more reliably share documents and shipping data and digitally collaborate.

"Digitization is a cornerstone of the CMA CGM Group's strategy aimed at providing an end-to-end solution tailored to our customers' needs. An industry-wide collaboration like this is truly unprecedented. Only by working together and agreeing to a shared set of standards and goals are we able to enact the digital transformation that is now touching nearly every part of the global shipping industry," said Marc Bourdon, CMA CGM Senior Vice President, Commercial Agencies Network.

This completes a digital transformation that has taken more than a year, requiring considerable investment in new API capabilities. An important milestone in the process was a 15-customer pilot involving more than 3,000 unique consignments, 100,000 events and 6,000 containers to ensure the TradeLens platform distributes and shares shipment data across various supply chains with speed and accuracy.

TradeLens members use the platform to connect within the ecosystem and share information needed for their shipments based on permissions, without sharing sensitive data. TradeLens makes it possible to access data from the source in near real-time, boosts the quality of information, provides a comprehensive view of data as cargo moves around the world, and helps create a more timely, secured record of transactions. Launched in 2018, the TradeLens ecosystem now includes more than 175 organizations – extending to more than 10 ocean carriers and encompassing data from more than 600 ports and terminals. Already it has tracked 30 million container shipments, 1.5 billion events and roughly 13 million published documents.

For customers, the addition of CMA CGM and MSC in production can result in fewer data gaps as they do business with multiple carriers. Additionally, other members such as ports, terminals, authorities and intermodal providers can benefit from the ability to use permissioned data sharing to provide a comprehensive view of freight moving around the world. Terminal operators who use TradeLens to improve yard planning will now also be able to access far more comprehensive data for processing multi-carrier vessels.

"TradeLens is an important initiative in the digitalization of global shipping and logistics, with the potential to help carriers and their customers to increase transparency and reduce errors and delays, all at a crucial time when the industry is re-thinking and improving the resiliency of supply chains," said Andre Simha, Global Chief Digital & Information Officer, MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company. "By completing the integration, we can now begin showing our customers and business partners how they can create and see value from the platform, and we hope that many of them will join it, creating an even larger and more beneficial ecosystem."

Now that they are live on the platform, MSC and CMA CGM are promoting TradeLens capabilities and membership to their clients and business partners across all major geographies.

As TradeLens continuously scales, other recent additions of new ports and terminals include the Commercial Port of Vladivostock, DP World, PT Salam Pacific Indonesia Lines (SPIL), Portbase, QTerminals and Hamad Port, SSA Marine's Manzanillo International Terminal - Panama (MIT-Panama), Shipwaves, South Asia Gateway Terminals and Yilport Holding.

To learn more about the TradeLens platform and how your organization can join and benefit, visit www.tradelens.com.

About CMA CGM
Led by Rodolphe Saadé, the CMA CGM Group is a world leader in shipping and logistics.

Its 500 vessels serve more than 420 ports across five continents around the world and carried nearly 22 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) in 2019. With CEVA Logistics, a world leader in logistics services, CMA CGM handles more than 500,000 tons of airfreight and 1.9 million tons of inland freight every year.

CMA CGM is constantly innovating to offer customers new maritime, inland and logistics solutions.

Present on every continent and in 160 countries through its network of 755 offices and 750 warehouses, the Group employs more than 110,000 people worldwide, of which 2,400 are in Marseille where its head office is located.

About MSC
MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company is a global leader in transportation and logistics, privately owned and founded in 1970 by Gianluigi Aponte. As one of the world's leading container shipping lines, MSC operates 493 offices across 155 countries worldwide with over 70,000 employees. With access to an integrated network of road, rail and sea transport resources which stretches across the globe, the company prides itself on delivering global service with local knowledge. MSC's fleet of 560 vessels sail on more than 200 trade routes, calling at over 500 ports. MSC's Cargo Division also includes MEDLOG, its logistics arm with a presence in over 70 countries, which has a network of inland logistics platforms, warehouses, trucks, locomotives, and barges, and Terminal Investment Ltd (TiL), one of the largest and most geographically diverse terminal investor-operators, spanning five continents. www.msc.com

About TradeLens
The TradeLens platform has been jointly developed by Maersk and IBM. TradeLens is an open and neutral industry platform underpinned by blockchain technology, supported by major players across the global shipping industry. The platform promotes the efficient, transparent and secure exchange of information in order to foster greater collaboration and trust across the global supply chain.
www.tradelens.com

Media Contacts: 
Mélanie Rigaud 
CMA CGM
ho.mrigaud@cma-cgm.com

Holli Haswell
IBM
hhaswell@us.ibm.com

Giles Broom
MSC MEDITERRANEAN SHIPPING COMPANY SA
giles.broom@msc.com

Christian Kjærgaard-Winther
A.P. Moller - Maersk
Christian.Kjaergaard@maersk.com

SOURCE IBM