BITNAUTIC TOKEN REVIEW

What is BitNautic?

SHIPPING, THE WAY IT SHOULD BE

BitNautic is a decentralized platform, based on the EthereumBlockchain, for matching demand and supply of shipping services, for all the industry stakeholders: producers of goods, ship owners, charterers, brokers, importers and exporters.

BitNautic comes with distinctive features like AI (Artificial Intelligence) based booking system, a real-time tracking of ships and cargo, and a wholesale e-commerce platform.

Challenges Facing the Shipping Industry

2.1 Challenges for Carriers

Security threats

The high number of incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships off the Somalia coast and in the Gulf of Aden is something that the whole world is aware of, and is a growing concern for the maritime industry that is heavily affected by these incidents. Though the acts of piracy have been controlled to some extent, ship owners still use private armed security guards on their vessels while commuting the dangerous pirate zones in West Africa.

Not only armed robbery, the latest security threat to the maritime industry comes from hackers. Automated and technologically advanced ships have become vulnerable to cyber-attacks with hackers being successful in accessing the GPS, AIS – marine Automatic Identifcation System, and ECDIS – Electronic Chart Display and Information System (a system for viewing digital nautical charts)

Environmental Regulations

Maritime transport emits around 1000m tons of CO2 annually and is responsible for about 2.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. These emissions are predicted to increase
up to 250% by 2050 in absence of installation of newer energy-saving technologies. There is a growing concern over the impact of global shipping activities on the environment
– greenhouse effect and danger to aquatic life.

The industry is working towards fnalizing the framework for the monitoring, reporting, and verifcation of CO2 emissions from maritime transport. However, in the absence of universally approved regulations and fully reliable technologies, there is uncertainty in the industry.

Overcapacity

The latest report from UNCTAD (The Review of Maritime Transport 2017) say that the seaborne trade grew by 2.6 per cent in 2016, reaching 10.3 billion tons. Although this was a welcome improvement to the 2.1 per cent growth recorded in 2015, the boost in demand was offset by a 3.2 per cent increase in the industry’s carrying capacity, which reached 1.86 billion dead-weight tons earlier this year.

A supply-demand imbalance continued therefore to weigh down industry profts, with the container shipping market, the largest in terms of value, reporting a collective operating loss of US$3.5 billion.

Lack of Transparency

Bad tracking is caused by equally harmful gaps in transparency. While tracking issues are systemic and inherent to the task of moving goods, the failures of transparency
are largely due to bad data handling practices (or worse, due to parties being incentivized not to share accurate data).

Often, due to fragmentation, uncertainty, or to protect the exclusivity of their arrangements, brokers can’t or won’t tell a shipper exactly what carrier and driver are carrying their
freight

Labor Disputes and Job Cuts

Who can forget the month-long West Coast dockworkers slowdown, which brought shipping industry business to a standstill in February 2015? Or, another incident in Dec 2015 when the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) held the ship of global mining giant Alcoa, hostage for two months, disrupting the operations of the port of Portland?
Repeatedly, labor disputes and strikes have disrupted the shipping industry and created huge gaps in proftability and product rollouts. The shipping rates increase, and the supply chain becomes more overloaded.

2.2 Challenges for Shippers

Finding the best options

Cargo can be moved from point to point in a number of different ways. While it’s convenient to have options, many shippers are overwhelmed or simply unaware of the many different choices they have. Understanding the shipping landscape could save time and money at the end of the day

Finding the best rates

Looking for the best freight shipping rates can be time-consuming when not equipped with the right tools or processes. Most of the times, shippers have contracts in place (hindering ﬂexibility) or have to make multiple phone calls just to fnd the
best rate for one shipment. Having a transportation management system in place could provide a solution to this problem

Preparation and documentation

Shippers sometime aren’t prepared to take on the process. From flling out the bill of lading to identifying freight classes, one misstep can result in surcharges, delays, or customs holds when shipping internationally.
Shippers must be sure to prepare ahead of time with the necessary knowledge to get the job done

Shipping demand exceeds forecast

Exporters and Importers often fnd themselves short on containers or bulk shipping capacity when they need them most. This leads to delays, additional costs, potential penalties and strained relations with clients as well as partners. In addition, shippers of time-defnite or sequenced cargo ﬂows risk delays, performance penalties, and lost business when they can’t deliver on time, compelling some to resort to air freight or other alternatives in order to prevent penalties but the cost often outweighs the penalties.

In general, fnding the right balance between annual service contracts and the spot market is diffcult and comes with fnancial impacts.

INTRODUCING
BITNAUTIC

Global

Ship Owners, all over the world, can list their Ships and update the positions. Cargo Owners, in a similar way, can list their cargos, with detailed requirements. All users are able to
follow the actual conditions of the world freight market, with real-time positions at any port of the world.

Reliable

Shippers and Carriers beneft from a Reliable booking system based on effective digital contracts, backed by the Blockchain. Users execute a contract then, and there that locks in space, equipment and rate up to 6 months in advance. Carriers’ offers are all-in, and the rates are fxed.
Shippers never have any surprise accessorial and their rate never change. Invoices always match the contracts with 100% accuracy.

Secure

Contact information, ship name, and private data about assets are only available to the respective owners. BitNautic users decides when and with whom to share valuable information.

Easy to Use

Shippers just enter cargo origin and destination, ship dates and equipment type, then instantly receive binding offers directly from carriers along with service performance and
all the details they need to make an informed decision. Ship Owners just enter the Ship location and date, then instantly receive leads on matching cargos

Transparent

Public data representing the asset and contracts are stored in the
blockchain, accessible and auditable to all the parties, provided they have the required privileges. History of negotiations on each contract are always available on the Blockchain and easy exportable. This helps to avoid mistakes and guarantees the honesty between the parties.

Multi-Currency

To hold equipment and space on a vessel, Shippers submit a nominal deposit that gets credited toward their balance which is due before cargo is loaded. Any freight, chartering, sale and other services can be paid with cryptocurrency or BitNautic Tokens (BTNT).