Bunker fuel tracking startup celebrates prestigious maritime award for supply chain innovation

Following its successful launch and trial earlier this year, UK startup wins at the Lloyd’s List Europe Awards

Press Release – Blockchain and DNA-based fuels tracking system BunkerTrace won the Excellence in Supply Chain Management and Innovation award at the Lloyd’s List Europe Awards on Tuesday night. 

The annual award is given to a company that demonstrates how its technology best serves its customers within the land and sea supply chain. The judges recognised BunkerTrace’s potential to vastly increase transparency in the marine fuels supply chain innovation by providing end-to-end traceability, and proving evidence of compliance with International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) 2020 regulation.

BunkerTrace CEO Marc Johnson commented: “We’re extremely proud to have accomplished so much in our first few months of business, having just launched in October. Having successfully trialled our marine fuel tracing system in the Netherlands and now won the Lloyd’s List award, this puts us on a great footing to scale up commercially as we go into 2020.

“We’re pleased to bring a new solution to the market ahead of IMO 2020, which will provide traceability and improve accountability in the bunker supply chain. 

“We’d like to thank all our industry partners, colleagues, friends and supporters for helping us achieve these milestones and win the supply chain innovation award.”

The solution, which adds DNA markers to fuel at every stage of the supply chain and records each transaction in a blockchain-based system, has already received significant interest from ports, bunker suppliers and vessel operators. In a trial earlier this year, Boskalis-owned dredger, Prins der Nederlanden was bunkered with 900 cubic meters (CBM) of DMA 0.1% sulphur ISO 8217:2010 compliant fuel supplied by Minerva with a unique tracer added. The crew then successfully detected this mark with an on-board analysis case that took less than a minute, with the result of the test logged in a blockchain-based transaction record.

BunkerTrace Technical Sales Director Stuart Hall said: “This time last year at the same ceremony, Forecast Technology met Blockchain Labs for Open Collaboration (BLOC) and BunkerTrace was born. By combining Forecast’s synthetic DNA tracers and BLOC’s blockchain expertise, we’ve created a system which manages marine fuel risks by creating a transparent chain of custody that combines both physical and digital systems.

“We’re very proud to have one this won this award in a very competitive category and well done to all the other winners at the event.” 

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