Shipping Blockchain Initiative Gathers Steam

A blockchain initiative for seaborne cargo aimed at cutting costs and improving tracking of shipments is getting a boost with the addition of two big container shipping operations.

Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd AG and Japan’s Ocean Network Express said Tuesday they will join the TradeLens platform launched by A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S and International Business Machines Corp. , giving the program five of the world’s six largest carriers controlling about 60% of the oceangoing container cargo capacity.