IBM and Maersk are planning to release two blockchain applications this year for the shipping industry, Korea Joongang Daily reported.

The two companies began collaboration in June 2016 to build new blockchain- and cloud-based technologies. In March 2017, they partnered to utilize the blockchain technology for cross-border supply chain management.

Speaking at a seminar held by the American Chamber of Commerce in Seoul last week, Tim Smith, Asia-Pacific head of A.P. Moller-Maersk affiliate APM Terminals, said that the companies are planning to roll out two applications that enhance visibility and efficiency in the shipping trade this year.

Providing further details, Smith said that of the two blockchain applications – one is focused on improving the visibility of a good’s end-to-end supply chain, from warehouse to the end customer, and the other will help facilitate paperless trade.

Earlier this year, IBM and Maersk announced a joint venture to tap blockchain potential for digitizing global trade. In February 2018, logistics provider Agility joined the blockchain initiative.

Last month, Holt Logistics Corporation announced that it has conducted a pilot based on a blockchain-based global trade digitization solution developed by Maersk and IBM.

In May 2017, Samsung SDS, along with the South Korean government and state-run research centers and logistic companies, launched a consortium to bring blockchain technology to the country’s shipping industry. Later in September, it announced the interim results of a pilot project which used blockchain technology for a shipment from Korea to China made by Hyundai Merchant Marine.