A blockchain-powered ecosystem to secure shipment booking, 300cubits is is set to launch its initial coin offering (ICO) on April 12 in a bid to address the USD 23 billion industry headache caused by customers failing to turn up for a booked shipping slot.
In a press release, the company said it will issue ERC20 compliant tokens, with smart contracts to ensure neither of the parties will be able to alter what has been agreed upon.
According to the company, the USD 23 billion “No Show” problem in the container shipping industry has caused chronic losses and bankruptcies over the past decade, due to the industry’s inability to execute agreements in daily operations. The problem stems from customers not turning up with cargo for a booked shipping slot, which 300cubits said holds a probability of around 30 percent. The industry has attempted to introduce booking deposits, which has been resisted by customers who don’t want to put cash up front.
“Both the container liners and their customers will be given valuable /TEU tokens that will be held as deposits with conditions, and paid out later upon the execution of the shipment booking,” 300cubits explained in the statement. “The container liners will be compensated with the /TEU tokens if the customers do not turn up with cargoes. Likewise, the customers will be compensated with the /TEU tokens if their cargoes are rolled.”
The 300cubits team boasts many shipping industry veterans. Co-Founder Johnson Leung has twenty years’ experience in the shipment booking process. While, on the advisory board, Thomas Eskesen and John Urban, have both founded booking portals that are very popular in the industry, accounting for around 30 percent of global shipment bookings, according to the company statement.
Announced on Saturday, the ICO follows a successful test of the platform by major industry participants. The ongoing private placement for contributions at or above 20 /ETH will run until April 12 when the public sale commences. Altogether, 18,000,000 out of a total supply of 100,000,000 /TEU tokens, will be available, according to the statement. TEU tokens have been rated 4.6 out of 5 from ICObench.
The 300cubits team also said it plans to offer free tokens to the shipping companies and their customers on the condition that they use these tokens to ensure wide acceptance of /TEU tokens in the industry.
Company website: www.300cubits.tech
