INTRODUCTION
The sector of maritime and shipping is one of the basic sources of income for countries all over the world. For some countries, it's the backbone of the country's economy. So now just imagine you are expecting some cargo worth millions of dollars and next thing you hear is that your cargo is missing, or has been devalued, or is never going to come and you are never going to recover funds for all the money lost or spent? The pain felt will be immeasurable.
Imagine again that you own ships and you were given a contract to leave from Africa to Spain and get goods that would be up to 10 shiploads, only for you to get there and there is no cargo to even convey to anywhere, therefore implying that all the money spent to get there has been lost and there is no regulatory machinery in place to even checkmate such losses on the shipman. These losses on the Shipman are not just devastating to the individual but also to the countries economy.
There is need for a standard check on such nefarious activities so as to prevent future and continuous occurrences of these circumstances as to make trade very profitable for all the investors and users as well, and to also boost economies the world over and make life even more comfortable and business more intriguing and appealing to anyone who wants to invest in it.
PROBLEMS THAT PREVIOUSLY EXISTED IN SHIPPING SECTOR PRIOR TO BITNAUTIC
In recent times, the shipping sector is said to provide for about 90% of the value of the World Trade sector. It is therefore obvious that shipping is trite and important to the survival of the world’s economy as a whole. In its absence, intercontinental trade, as well as transport of raw materials to various parts of the world, and most importantly import/export of products such as food, manufactured goods etc. would be impossible.
The need to set up a world or global standard to regulate this sector is very important at this point. In this 21st century if not for any other thing, such an important sector as shipping should have a very rigid and firm regulatory mechanism that would ensure transparency in the course of trade and how it is controlled all over the world. This should be done so the trade would continue to benefit everyone who is involved in it and to also boost its efficiency. Some of the problems experienced in this sector include the following;
- First and foremost, the shipping sector experiences one of its biggest problems which comes from different parts of major world trades e.g. West Africa, the high level of piracy within this parts are alarming and there’s no stable check put in place to ensure that a standard is maintained. Stemming from the above, there also exists excess production of certain goods that can be sold within the course of trade, situations as it relates to confidence and trust also arise and the lack of contemporary systems that make for better perfection as opposed to the consistent human errors that plague the system, loss of documents or inaccurate records of such is also an issue and even the production of goods below specified standards also is a great impediment to the shipping sectors efficacy and efficiency. These problems coupled with the increased demand for a system of trade that is free from negative influences and filled with clarity at all levels need attention.
- Environmental regulations affecting the maritime field is also a constraint of the prospects of the industry. It is a known fact that transport by water 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. In lieu of the above assertion, there is heightened apprehension as to the safety of man and his global environment with due recourse given to the greenhouse effect and danger posed to aquatic life.
This has led to high level of administrative bottlenecks in the sector. This has also led to a lot of corruption in the system since in most cases bribes are paid to bypass some of the necessary administrative requirements such as paperwork’s and numerous signatures, which totally faults the operational system. To cap it all up, where there is a small inconsistency or a small service disruption or insufficient capacity anywhere in the network, it automatically ends up in shipment delays, increased costs or wrong deliveries. Recently, pirates are not the only problems or thieves that the shipping sector has to deal with, some issues arise also as to hackers who compromise the efficacy of the system and make it totally unsafe. - From time immemorial, the environment of the maritime sector has never been on the same page on matters relating to payments and transactions undertaken in the system. The abject and deplorable Lack of information which is now the order of the day among importers and exporters in matters pertaining to the type and expense of ships and transport fees. Labour disputes have also not been lacking in this field, instances where such has occurred in the past couple of years may include ; the disputes that led to the month-long West Coast dockworkers slowdown, which brought shipping industry business to a standstill in February 2015, Or the Dec 2015 altercations that led to the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) holding the ship of global mining giant Alcoa, hostage for two months, disrupting the operations of the port of Portland. Oftentimes, labor disputes and strikes have disrupted the easy flow and smoothness of maritime industry and have prompted huge interstices in the lucrativeness of the sector. The consequent increase of rates in the shipping sector but evident lack of innovations in the system, and the resulting increase in demand for shipping services make the supply chain become over bloated and this leads to little or no efficiency in the system.
There are other problems that also impede on this sector especially for the shipper which may include finding the best shipping rates, making the best choice of ships to use, forecasts and all the documentation procedures etc.
HOW BITNAUTIC REMEDIES SUCH PROBLEMS
BitNautic brings a lot to the table in order to remedy these problems. BitNautic address almost all these challenges that the shipping sector faces. Fundamentally, it brings an open decentralized platform which enables all stakeholders i.e. importers, exporters, shippers, ship owners, carriers, and agents to come under one umbrella BitNautic, and negotiate their own terms, therefore, avoiding the long chains that arise due to many parties’ involvement in the negotiations as used to be the case. All of these happens under the vigilant security systems and the transparency of the blockchain.
BitNautic bring closer the accomplishment of the goal of shipping the way it should be in an advanced system. At the global level, Ship owners in different parts of the world, can list their Ships and update the positions. Cargo Owners, in a like manner, can list their cargos, with detailed requirements. All the registered users of the platform are now enabled to follow the actual conditions of their personal freights or the world’s freight market on a larger scale at any of the ports anywhere in the world.
The introduction of this system also brings forth the possibility of perfectly reliable and dependable system. Shippers and Carriers profit from the tried-and-true booking system grounded upon efficacious digital contracts, supported by the Blockchain. The Users can now implement a contract and immediately or simultaneously secure a spot for themselves, or their equipment and arrive at a fixed rate up to 6 months in ahead of the imminent requirement.
And finally and most importantly the Carriers’ now have all the consecutive offers to them clear and in front of them as well as the fixing of rates without intervention from 3rd parties. This brings joy on both sides i.e. shippers and carriers, Shippers have no need to worry about an unstable system or a sudden fluctuation in the price of rates given them. Receipts or Invoices always correspond with records kept thus making a near perfect system or should I say the contracts become 100% secure and accurate.
Some other relevant improvements in this sector by BitNautic includes the entering of escrow smart contracts. They allow one to enter into a contractual relationship between a buyer and a seller. The buyers BTNT (BitNautic Token) becomes locked in the smart contract and upon him confirming that the seller of the product has completed contractual terms such money is released to the seller. Wholesale E-Commerce which allows a carrier to put up cargo for sale and smart tracking systems that help one keep track of his or her cargo while its enroute.
TOKEN DETAILS
BitNautic intends to make use of the blockchain mechanism and introduce it into the world of shipping making it a very viable venture through the use of Etherium. Ethereum introduced new opportunities that Bitcoin and like Bitcoin protocol blockchains do not have. Ethereum enables code execution in a decentralized way. Which is in itself one of the goals BitNautic seeks to achieve.
The BitNautic Token also referred to as the BTNT Token, which is an ERC20 token, will be issued to create a decentralized shipping and cargo platform founded upon Ethereum blockchain and the wholesale e-commerce platform would also be based on Ethereum blockchain and smart contracts for trading goods and services. The use of the ERC20 protocol would be based on Ethereum as already said before, and a technical and market standard is formed, which defines an interface for smart contracts that need to execute token remissions.
The BTNT Tokens would be used for; Subscription for professional use of the BitNautic Platform, Fees for Cargo Booking, Fees for the Wholesale E-Commerce platform, Fees for Ship Brokerage System, Fees for Escrow Service, Subscription to Tracking System.
At the point of ICO, the BTNT would be worth 1ETH to 500BTNT. All the interested participants in the BitNautic ICO must pass KYC identity screening test, which will be integrated into the ICO registration process and audited by an external Swiss AML compliant verification company. Check image below for token economics and distribution :
THE TEAM
The Bitnautic team comprises of capable and experienced members who are devoted to ensure the project aim is achieved. The team members can be seen on the image below:
CONCLUSION
In summary, it is therefore obvious that the world's global shipping sector needs this reform in her maritime sector. This is necessitated by the many ills that have bedeviled and plagued this field in a very long time now and such it Is trite that this change should be made as soon as practicably possible. So investors from far and wide are encouraged to involve themselves in this system as it is the way the worlds maritime sector is headed towards to make for an accurate model of doing things forthwith.
BitNautic should be encouraged in all countries of the world. It reduces the pressure on the government naval agencies as well as other law enforcement agencies who are charged with the responsibility of making sure that all trade routes are safe from pirates and hackers. The introduction of this system brings near perfection to the system and makes it easier for everybody. This would be a highly profitable venture for all and sundry including shippers and carriers.
USEFUL LINKS
consider checking out the links below to know more about this awesome project.
Website : https://bitnautic.io
Whitepaper: https://bitnautic.io/documents.html
Telegram : https://t.me/bitnautic_group
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/bitnautic/
LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/company/bitnautic-official/
Reddit : https://www.reddit.com/user/bitnautic/
Bitcointalk ANN: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3351552.0
Slack: https://bitnautic.slack.com/
Twitter : https://twitter.com/bitnautic
Writer's BTT username : deodivine1
Writer's bitcointalk profile : https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=1390292