ADI Chain partners with Shipfinex to tokenize $500M vessel pipeline

Two firms from the UAE want to turn cargo ships into investable digital tokens. ADI Chain, a Layer-2 blockchain platform based in Abu Dhabi and part of Sirius International Holding, has struck an exclusive partnership with Dubai-based Shipfinex to tokenize a pipeline of roughly 35 commercial vessels valued at approximately $500 million.

The deal, announced on August 11, positions itself as the first attempt to build a regulated, institutional-grade tokenized asset class in the maritime sector.

How the structure works

Under the agreement, the two companies split responsibilities neatly. Shipfinex handles the origination, structuring, and issuance of assets tied to the vessels. ADI Chain provides the blockchain rails and settlement layer, including support for stablecoin-denominated payments aimed at institutional buyers.

Each vessel in the pipeline will be wrapped in its own special-purpose vehicle. That’s a legal structure designed to isolate the financial risk of one ship from every other ship in the portfolio, so if a single vessel runs into trouble, the fallout doesn’t cascade across the entire token ecosystem.

One important nuance: the tokens will not represent direct legal ownership of the ships themselves. Instead, they’ll represent debt claims, charter income shares, or other economic interests tied to a vessel’s revenue stream.

Shipfinex currently holds a preliminary “In-Principle Approval” from VARA, the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority. No tokens have actually been issued yet. The project is still in its early regulatory and structuring phase, which means the $500 million figure represents a target pipeline rather than capital already deployed onchain.

Why shipping, and why now

The global commercial shipping fleet is valued at an estimated $2 trillion, and the ship-financing market alone is worth around $680 billion. Ship financing typically involves complex syndicated loans, private equity deals, and bilateral agreements between shipowners and a handful of specialized banks.

ADI Chain supports the UAE dirham-backed stablecoin known as DDSC and has previously facilitated transactions including a $30 million deal involving IHC, one of Abu Dhabi’s largest conglomerates.

The total value of tokenized RWAs currently sits at roughly $38 billion across various asset classes, from US Treasuries to private credit to real estate. Previous attempts to bring shipping onchain have come from platforms like Galactica and Ethra Ship, though none have achieved significant institutional scale.

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