EY and software security outfit Guardtime have collaborated to launch what is believed to be the world’s first marine insurance blockchain platform.

The blockchain platform, which is built on Microsoft Azure global cloud technology, is expected to be implemented from 2018 onwards. The first of its kind in the insurance industry, the platform’s initial phased rollout will involve deploying the benefits of blockchain for end-to-end use across the marine industry.

The global blockchain platform connects clients, brokers, insurers and third parties to distributed common ledgers that capture data about identities, risk and exposures, and integrates this information with insurance contracts.

The platform’s capabilities include the ability to create and maintain asset data from multiple parties; to link data to policy contracts; to receive and act upon information that results in a pricing or a business process change; to connect client assets, transactions and payments; and to capture and validate up-to-date first notification or loss data.

Shaun Crawford, EY global insurance Leader, said: “Blockchain’s potential to transform the insurance ecosystem has always been clear. What we have done is to move forward from potential to reality.

“This solution is the first to apply blockchain’s transparency, security and standardization to marine insurance and is ready for commercial use. We look forward to deploying this technology across the marine insurance industry and are exploring how these findings and insights will be applied to other specialty insurance markets and beyond.”

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