Press Release
New Maritime Book & Claim System Strengthens Business Case for Green Shipping
Published — April 27, 2023
Maritime Book & Claim
Published — April 27, 2023
Introduction
The purpose of this paper is to describe and justify the decisions we took whilst designing our Maritime Book & Claim system.
The content of this paper is centered around six sections, described below.
- Introduction: A description of our approach to designing this system.
- Chain of custody: Description of how our system will collect emission and transport service data.
- Market rules: Overview of who will be able to use our system and its functionality.
- IT infrastructure: Initial thoughts on what will be required for this system’s IT infrastructure.
- Governance: Description of the governance framework for this system.
- System acceptance: Analysis of our system’s compatibility with regulatory and accounting frameworks
In addition to this report, there is a ‘Maritime Book & Claim System Overview’ paper (available for download further down on this page) that contains a description of Book & Claim, the value it brings to the maritime industry, and a high-level overview of how this system works. A manual providing detailed instructions for using this system is under development to prepare for the pilot. The content outlined in this paper is an important first step towards developing a maritime-focused Book & Claim system, but it is not the final step. Learnings and insights gained prior to and during the pilot will be incorporated in the system design. Industry-wide engagement and collaboration is needed to make Book & Claim a reality in the maritime industry.
1.1 Designing our Book & Claim system
The first stage of our Book & Claim project involved creating a design for our system based on extensive dialogue with different stakeholders from across the maritime industry.
The design of our Book & Claim system was centered around detailing three fundamental components. These components consist of the building blocks that establish how a system would work, the market that the system would create, and how external authorities perceive the system (see visual below). This initial stage of our project focused on developing the building blocks and understanding system acceptance.
The four building blocks that comprise this system are:
- Chain of custody procedures: This block details the information needed to create a chain of custody between greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and transport activity. This includes how information is gathered (i.e., how to measure emissions and transport service), the frequency at which these measurements are used in the system, and the system unit used.
- Market rues: This block articulates the rules around who can participate in the system, the actions taken with tokens, and the time allowed for these actions.
- IT infrastructure: This building block describes the key features needed for the system’s IT infrastructure.
- Governance: This building block outlines the principles and procedures for verifying and validating data and transactions, and the overall governance structure.
Feedback sessions and design work can never answer all questions about how a Book & Claim system will work. Once fully functioning, this system will be used by participants in different manners. A key component of a Book & Claim system design is understanding what kind of market and behavior the system drives. However, this can only be fully understood when the system is in the hands of users. As a result, we will be conducting a pilot to test the system and understand the behavior it drives.
The final key consideration for designing a Book & Claim system is system acceptance. Book & Claim does not exist in a vacuum, and authorities across the maritime industry will take a view on whether this system is valid and can be used for official purposes. These authorities include organizations like the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the European Union (EU), and the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG-P). When designing a Book & Claim system, any gaps and compatibility issues with current and expected frameworks must be understood. While this Book & Claim is a voluntary system in its current state, compatibility with regulatory frameworks could further enhance its credibility and accelerate its uptake by the maritime industry.