Jeremy A. Herschaft and Michelle Ann Gitlitz
Over the past 18 months, members of the international maritime community have expressed a keen interest in exploring how 21st century blockchain technology can modernize the ancient world of seaborne commerce. Blockchain has in turn spawned many novel business ideas from various startup companies throughout the marine industry. These new business ventures all generally seek to employ blockchain to streamline the logistics process and to provide greater security and transparency to the commercial endeavor. At the same time, these companies are setting a new course through uncharted waters with respect to how they 1) generate startup capital, and 2) propose to conduct day-to-day business in the electronic, digital asset (or crypto) realm.
This article explores these dual business components using two types of digital assets: the “security token” to attract capital, and the “utility token” to carry out business interactions. Both are well suited for the maritime area, though maritime blockchain startup companies should be mindful of the regulatory requirements for implementing tokens into their business in the United States. Continue reading “Heads or Tails? Making Sense of Crypto-Tokens Issued by Emerging Blockchain Companies”
The United States is on the precipice of developing a robust offshore wind (“OSW”) industry. This article reviews recent developments on the federal and state level that have made it so.
We are seeing strong signs of a burgeoning offshore wind industry off the Atlantic Seaboard. While modest, the first offshore wind project, Deepwater Wind, is fully operational in Rhode Island state waters, bringing low-cost renewable energy to the residents of Block Island. In addition, new projects in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, described further below, are setting the stage for the construction of much larger offshore wind farms in federal waters. From Maine to North Carolina, governors and states are lining up to be a part of the offshore wind revolution. This is good news for developers, suppliers, consumers, and the environment.
Advanced automation in the international maritime industry has officially arrived on the international stage, as the International Maritime Organization’s (“IMO”) Maritime Safety Committee (“MSC”) 99th session furthered the discussion on Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (“MASS”). The topic garnered a great deal of attention, with the IMO receiving 19 papers from industry and various countries in support of the MASS regulatory scoping exercise. The international interest in this topic echoes sentiments of the IMO Secretary-General Kitack Kim, who recently acknowledged that digitalization—including autonomous ships—remains at the top of his agenda, along with climate change and seafarer issues.
Emerging technologies continue to permeate various sectors of the maritime industry. As with the advent of steam power, electrical energy, and computerized automation in prior industrial revolutions, the maritime industry is experiencing advances in cyber-physical systems and digitalization in this “fourth industrial
Once thought to be a mere concept on the distant horizon, Unmanned Surface Vessels (“USVs”) are garnering increasing attention in the maritime industry as a means to cut costs, increase efficiency, and enhance safety. While some view USVs as more akin to futuristic science fiction, in reality, unmanned vessels are far from a novel concept—Nikola Tesla envisioned maritime drones in his November 8, 1898, patent for “Method of and apparatus for controlling mechanism of moving vessels or vehicles.” More recently, unmanned and autonomous technology has been developed in multiple industries, in particular in the subsea sector.