TradeLens To Cease Operations From 2023

TradeLens, a blockchain-based supply chain solution, has decided to shut down operations starting next year. TradeLens was jointly founded by IBM, an American technology company, and Maersk, a Danish shipping company, in 2018. Maersk announced the decision via a press release on the 29th of November.

The company was founded to digitize the supply chain industry and create a neutral platform. TradeLens leveraged blockchain technology to provide a more transparent system for transporting products from one location to another.

However, TradeLens was unable to meet the standards required to continue operations. According to the press release, the firm lacked “commercial viability. ”

Rotem Hersko, Maersk’s Head of Business Platform, explained the rationale behind the move to shut down TradeLens.

He said:

“Unfortunately, while we successfully developed a viable platform, the need for full global industry collaboration has not been achieved. As a result, TradeLens has not reached the level of commercial viability necessary to continue work and meet the financial expectations as an independent business.”

According to Riviera, the platform has been used by over 94 organizations, and 154 million shipping events have been processed.

TradeLens will be decommissioned by the end of the first quarter of 2023. During this time, the firm will continue to serve pending customers.

Hersko remains optimistic about developing a new supply chain solution superior to TradeLens.

He remarked,

“We are deeply grateful for the relentless efforts of our committed industry members and many tech talents, who together have worked diligently to advance the digitalisation of the industry through the TradeLens platform. We will leverage the work of TradeLens as a stepping stone to further push our digitisation agenda and look forward to harnessing the energy and ability of our technology talent in new ways.”