Blockchain technology applied to the maritime industry.

Abstract

This research aims presenting the possibility of Blockchain technology applications within the offshore maritime industry, while narrowing to Scandinavian and Norwegian companies for the data collection. The chosen method was qualitative research and it was performed seven interviews, being four with direct offshore operators and three with offshore supporters. The results were analyzed based on a coding book created by the author based on the topics explored in the interviews. The author also presents a framework to applying the technology to solve challenges and enhance opportunities. The results showed that the industry is driven by costs, as both enabler and barrier, and the willingness to innovate depends on such, alongside with legal requirements proposed by authorities and the need to “future proof” the fleet. The lack of knowledge about the technology and the cultural behavior within the industry are also barriers to innovation. The main challenges for this study was the lack of network required to have a broader reach within the industry and the difficulty to measure the success (or lack of it) when applying the technology, due to the lack of public available information for benchmarking and literature proposing such. Hence, a proposal for further studies is to develop such methodology by following an application in the industry.