SIMIC

Maersk launched TradeLens in collaboration with IBM in 2018 to promote efficient and secure global trade by helping to manage and track the millions of shipping containers trading globally by digitising manual and paper-based systems across the supply chain.

Although the platform, by nature, heavily dependent on widespread industry participation, steadily added companies, port authorities and other entities to its base, it failed to reach the critical mass needed.

"TradeLens was founded on the bold vision to make a leap in global supply chain digitisation as an open and neutral industry platform," said Maersk platforms chief Rotem Hershko.

"Unfortunately, while we successfully developed a viable platform, the need for full global industry collaboration has not been achieved. As a result, TradeLens has not reached the level of commercial viability necessary to continue work and meet the financial expectations as an independent business," he said.

Starting this week, the TradeLens team will be taking action to discontinue the platform, with the intention to go offline by the end of the first quarter of 2023.

Maersk says it will continue its efforts to digitise the supply chain and increase industry innovation through other solutions to reduce trade friction and promote more global trade.