Photo Credit : WAM
ADI Chain and Shipfinex have formed an exclusive partnership to develop what they describe as the first regulated, institutional-grade tokenised maritime asset class, opening a new digital market for vessel-backed finance, charter-linked income and economic interests in ships.
Under the agreement, Maritime Asset Tokens will be issued through a regulated framework and made available exclusively on ADI Chain.
Maritime transport carries more than 80 percent of global merchandise trade by volume, yet investment in the vessels supporting international commerce remains largely concentrated among shipowners, banks and specialist financial institutions.
The global commercial fleet was valued at approximately $2.17 trillion at the end of 2025. Meanwhile, worldwide ship financing, including bank loans, leasing, export credit and alternative funding, stood at around $680 billion.
Despite the market’s scale, vessel ownership remains fragmented across thousands of mainly small and medium-sized operators, many of which face limited access to alternative sources of capital.
Through the partnership, Shipfinex will identify, structure and issue eligible maritime assets, while ADI Chain will provide the blockchain, distribution and settlement infrastructure. The platform will connect maritime instruments with the wider digital asset economy and provide qualified institutional participants with access to primary distributions once the regulated issuance framework is completed.
Shipfinex has an initial pipeline of approximately 35 vessels with a combined value of about $500 million. The company has already developed its Maritime Asset Token architecture and individual legal structures for vessels, with the initiative now progressing through pilot testing and operational readiness.
Each eligible ship will be placed within a separate special-purpose vehicle. This arrangement will allow the vessel’s value, liabilities, income and investor rights to be evaluated independently.
Depending on the final structure, the digital instruments could offer exposure to vessel-backed credit, income generated through charter agreements or other economic interests linked to ships.
Ramana Kumar, President of Stablecoin Ecosystem at ADI Foundation, said maritime finance has the scale, physical assets and commercial activity required to become a major real-world asset category.
He said the sector has lacked trusted infrastructure capable of connecting individual vessels and their economic value with regulated issuance and onshore digital settlement. The partnership aims to build that foundation and create a route for maritime assets to enter digital markets through the UAE.
The proposed model will maintain the existing legal and operational frameworks governing commercial vessels, including ownership, registration, insurance and maritime protections. Tokenisation will digitally represent the economic rights associated with each vessel without replacing the structures through which ships are owned and operated.
Every Maritime Asset Token will be linked to an identifiable vessel with its own valuation, operating record, financial profile and legal structure. Blockchain records could provide a verifiable history of issuance, ownership and distributions while preserving the compliance and eligibility conditions attached to each instrument.
Capt. Vikas Pandey, Founder and CEO of Shipfinex, said ships play a central role in global trade, but access to maritime investment remains limited and fragmented.
He added that combining Shipfinex’s maritime origination and asset-structuring capabilities with ADI Chain’s infrastructure would help establish a regulated digital investment route, with each instrument connected to a physical vessel, its economics and its legal framework.
Shipfinex currently holds In-Principle Approval from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority for broker-dealer services and is working towards its operational launch. No Maritime Asset Tokens have been publicly issued so far.
The partnership’s initial phase will focus on completing the regulated issuance route, confirming the first product structure and preparing selected vessels from Shipfinex’s pipeline for tokenisation.
