ICO Review: BitNautic

BitNautic is an Ethereum blockchain-based platform for the shipping industry. They aim to support six stakeholders, including producers of goods, shipowners, charterers, brokers, importers, and exporters. Their platform aims to also have features such as AI based booking, real-time tracking, and wholesale e-commerce.

Looking to raise a hard cap of 50,000 ETH, BitNautic is looking to make a significant impact upon the logistics industry. Here’s what we think of their whitepaper:

The Main Problems In Logistics

The main problems that BitNautic looks to solve include:

1. Overcapacity
2. Trust issues
3. Outdated systems
4. Missing and inaccurate documents
5. Substandard goods have a fundamental impact on industry prospects.

Furthermore, BitNautic notes that the shipping industry faces high administrative burdens of managing and writing claims with a lot of paperwork, requiring multiple signatures. Overall, not being on the same page with one another causes quite a bit of issue within the shipping industry, which BitNautic hopes to solve.

Challenges For Carriers

BitNautic notes the following as significant problem for carriers, including:

1. The security risk of being robbed by pirates.
2. No universal environmental regulations.
3. Lack of transparency amongst the industry.
4. Labor disputes and job cuts, which has caused issues with profitability.

Challenges For Shippers

BitNautic notes the following problems for Shippers, including:

1. Finding the best option for shipping can be difficult as shippers are overwhelmed or unaware of the different choices they have.
2. Seeking out the best rate can be a pretty time-consuming process.
3. Preparation and documentation mismanagement can result in surcharges, delays, and custom holdings.
4. Shipping demand exceeding forecast, which means exporters and importers find themselves short on containers, leading to additional delays, costs, and penalties.

How BitNautic Looks To Help

BitNautic hopes to implement an open, decentralized platform that will help the stakeholders above with some different issues in the shipping industry. Here are the main components they look to improve:

Global Access

Ship owners all over the world can see the conditions of the world freight market and real-time positions at any port of the world.

Reliability

Shippers and Carriers benefit from a reliable online booking system based on digital contracts on the blockchain. Users can execute a contract that locks in the space, equipment, and rate up to 6 months in advance. Shippers never have any surprise costs, and invoices always match with the contract.

Security

BitNautic will include contact information, ship name, and private data about assets as they’re available to respective owners.

Transparent

Public data representing the asset and contracts are stored in the blockchain, accessible, and auditable to all parties, provided they have the required privileges.

Inexpensive

There will be no markup costs but rather payment by Ship Owners/Carriers to make the connection and manage the contract.

Intelligence

BitNautic hopes to implement an advanced AI engine to help determine the best fit for cargo and ships to optimize the use of naval assets.

Multi-Currency

Shippers must submit a nominal deposit that gets credited toward their balance which is due before any cargo is loaded. Any freight, charter, or sale can be paid with cryptocurrency or BitNautic tokens.

How BitNautic’s Application Will Work

BitNautic’s application will have a few different features, including:

Cargo Booking System

BitNautic’s Cargo Booking System is built to offer the best-matched lowest prices. Furthermore, users can also choose multiple packages from different providers, including specifications on weight, time frame, destination address, and source address.

Ship Brokerage System

Ship Brokerage allows carriers and ship-owners to list ships, update their location, and get leads on new customers. Ship owners are matched with leads and supported in closing clear and reliable contracts with Shippers.

Cargo Consolidation

Shippers and Ship Owners will be able to list specific opportunities for consolidation.

Wholesale E-Commerce

BitNautic looks to offer users the possibility to advertise and trade wholesale goods. Producers can list their products directly, cutting out many intermediaries. Users trade deals and negotiate terms, where payment is based on crypto.

Escrow Services

The Escrow service of BitNautic will offer specific smart contract enabled services.

Tracking

Finally, BitNautic will offer to track for both Ships and Cargos giving the details on where shipments are, the total number of containers, and other efficient systems.

What We Think

BitNautic looks to take an interesting approach to the blockchain/supply-chain industry, however, there are still a few questions as to how they look to compete in a somewhat crowded space. On the surface, BitNautic looks to help the shipping industry quite a bit, giving a detailed description of the different features and technical aspects of their platform. Yet, what their white paper lacks is how they plan to connect with the greater logistics industry, something other companies in this space have already gotten a head start on.

The shipping industry is much more than just how things move on cargo, but how it ends up in our stores and eventually our homes. BitNautic does a great job on attacking the macro level of things, however, other blockchain companies like Fr8 are looking to solve a similar problem all the way down to last-mile. Overall, while not a bad project, I’d recommend comparing their offerings with the others in the blockchain-logistics industry.