Purpose
In the existing era, international trade is boosted by maritime freight movement. The academicians and Government are concerned about environmental contamination caused by maritime goods that transit global growth and development. Digital technologies like blockchain help the maritime freight business to stay competitive in the digital age. This study aims to illuminate blockchain technology (BCT) adoption aspects to alleviate early industry adoption restrictions.

Design/methodology/approach
This study adopts a two-stage approach comprising of structural equation modeling (SEM) with artificial neural networks (ANN) to analyze critical factors influencing the adoption of BCT in the sustainable maritime freight industry.

Findings
The SEM findings from this study illustrate that social, organizational, technological and infrastructual and institutional factors affect BCT execution. Furthermore, the ANN technique uses the SEM data to determine that sustainability enabled digital freight training (S3), initial investment cost (O5) and trust over digital technology (G1) are the most essential blockchain deployment factors.

Originality/value
The hybrid approach aims to help decision-makers and policymakers examine their organizational blockchain adoption goals to construct sustainable, efficient and effective maritime freight transportation.