HAMBURG : Only recently, the nine ocean carrier members of the Digital Container Shipping Association (DCSA), including Hapag-Lloyd, announced their commitment to fully adopt standardized electronic bills of lading (eBL) by 2030. As a first step, the members commit to converting 50% of original bills of lading to digital within the next five years.

Switching away from the transfer of physical paper bills of lading could save $6.5 billion in direct costs for stakeholders, enable $30-40 billion in annual global trade growth, transform the customer experience and improve sustainability.

The bill of lading is one of the most important trade documents in container shipping. It functions as a document of title, receipt for shipped goods and a record of agreed terms and conditions. Ocean carriers issue around 45 million bills of lading a year. In 2021, only 1.2% of these were electronic.

Manual, paper-based processes are time-consuming, expensive and environmentally unsustainable for stakeholders along complex supply chains. Paper-based processes break down when cargo in ports cannot be gated out because original bills of lading, or title documents fail to arrive or cannot be manually processed in time. In contrast, digital processes enable data to flow instantly and securely, reducing delays and waste.

Transforming document exchange through the eBL will accelerate digitalisation to benefit customers, banks, customs/government authorities, providers of ocean shipping services & all maritime supply chain stakeholders.

Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd, commented :"We have been offering our customers electronic bills of lading since last year to simplify and streamline document handling for all stakeholders and to reduce our carbon footprint. The feedback from our customers has been very positive. The target of having 100% eBL by 2030 is an important part of digitalising global supply chains and will require a collective effort from the industry to make it a reality."