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ADI Chain and Shipfinex target tokenised maritime assets
Abu Dhabi-based ADI Chain and Shipfinex have entered an exclusive partnership to establish what is claimed to be the first regulated, institutional-grade tokenised maritime asset class, creating a new market for vessel-backed finance, charter-linked income and economic interests in ships. Maritime Asset Tokens developed under the partnership will be issued through a regulated route and made available exclusively on ADI Chain.
Shipfinex will originate, issue and structure eligible maritime assets, while ADI Chain will provide the blockchain, distribution and settlement infrastructure. According to Shipfinex it has initial pipeline of around 35 vessels valued at approximately US$500 million.
The Maritime Asset Token architecture and per-vessel legal structure have already been designed, and the project is now moving through the pilot and operational-readiness stage.
Each eligible vessel will be held within its own legally distinct special-purpose vehicle, allowing its value, liabilities, income and investor rights to be assessed independently. Depending on the final product structure, the resulting instruments could represent vessel-backed credit, charter-linked income or economic interests.
“Maritime finance has the scale, real assets and commercial activity to become a major new real-world asset category,” said Ramana Kumar, President of Stablecoin Ecosystem, ADI Foundation. “The missing piece has been trusted infrastructure connecting individual vessels and its economic value with regulated issuance and onshore digital settlement. Through this partnership, ADI Chain is creating that foundation and giving maritime assets a clear route into digital markets through the UAE.”
The model will retain the established legal and operational frameworks governing commercial ships, including ownership, flagging, insurance and maritime protections. Tokenisation will provide a digital representation of the economic rights linked to each vessel without replacing the structures through which the asset is owned and operated.
Each Maritime Asset Token will remain connected to an identifiable vessel with its own valuation, operating history, financial profile and legal structure. On-chain records can provide a verifiable history of issuance, ownership and distributions while maintaining the eligibility and compliance requirements attached to the instrument.
“Ships keep global trade moving, but access to maritime investment remains narrow and fragmented,” said Capt. Vikas Pandey, Founder and CEO of Shipfinex. “Combining our maritime origination and asset structuring with ADI Chain’s infrastructure will allow us to create a regulated digital route into this market, with every instrument tied to a real vessel, its economics and its legal structure.”
Shipfinex holds In-Principle Approval from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority for broker-dealer services and is working toward operational launch. No Maritime Asset Tokens have yet been issued publicly.
The first phase of the partnership will focus on finalising the regulated issuance route, confirming the initial product structure and preparing vessels from Shipfinex’s pipeline for tokenisation.
Through the partnership, ADI Chain and Shipfinex aim to establish maritime assets as a distinct regulated category in the RWA market, with ADI Chain serving as the exclusive blockchain and settlement infrastructure for the resulting digital instruments.
ADI Foundation is headquartered in Abu Dhabi Global Market and was founded by Sirius International Holding, the technology-focused subsidiary of International Holding Company, the Abu Dhabi listed group. Its network, ADI Chain, is the first institutional blockchain for stablecoins and real-world assets in the MENA region and has been live since December 2025. It is the settlement infrastructure for DDSC, a dirham-backed stablecoin initiated by IHC and First Abu Dhabi Bank and licensed by the UAE Central Bank.
Pandey states: “ADI Chain will provide the blockchain, distribution and settlement infrastructure, and will introduce qualified institutional participants to primary distributions of Maritime Asset Tokens as the regulated issuance route is finalised, while Shipfinex will originate, issue and structure the vessels. For an industry where equity has historically come from shipowners, a small number of family offices and a handful of specialist funds, that institutional distribution reach is the substantive part of this initiative.”
