ABSTRACT
Distributed ledger technology has the potential to be highly significant in this respect, especially when combined with the fact that continuous surveillance of cargo en route is rapidly becoming the new normal. Distributed ledger technology is beginning to affect the charter market, especially when it comes to such logistical matters as the arranging of fixtures and the juggling of available dates. Professor of Commercial Law in the Institute of International Shipping and Trade Law, Swansea University. “Blockchain” and “distributed ledger” are often used as if they were synonyms. But technically the former is a subgroup of the latter. “Distributed ledger” is any system in which a database is distributed over a number of participants, rather than being dependent on a centralised server, with changes having to be made to all copies. Professor of Commercial Law in the Institute of International Shipping and Trade Law, Swansea University.
