Transfer bills of lading digitally via blockchain
Sector: Tertiary sector · Industry: Shipping and maritime transport · Organisation: ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. · Maturity level: Pilot
The Israeli ocean carrier ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. conducted a pilot test of paperless bills of lading based on blockchain technology. This trial was reported as one of the first carrier-led initiatives aimed at digitizing critical shipping documentation. The primary objective was to accelerate international trade workflows and reduce administrative delays across sea transport operations.
Documentation status
- Project status: Pilot (as of 20 November 2017) — ZIM successfully completed the first pilot trial for a paperless bill of lading in November 2017.
- Evidence: Evidence medium
- Editorial review: pending
Description
The shipping company ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. tested the use of blockchain systems for issuing and transferring paperless bills of lading. Traditionally, original freight documents must be transported by courier around the globe, which regularly leads to delays in cargo release at destination ports. Digitalisation based on a distributed ledger allows this process to be handled in real time and tamper-proof.
In November 2017, the industry portal Maritime Executive reported a successful field trial by the Israeli liner shipping company ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. In this test, paperless bills of lading were created and transferred between the involved freight parties based on blockchain technology. The project was considered one of the first trials of this kind directly managed by a globally operating sea freight carrier. The aim was to demonstrate that electronic freight documents can offer the same legal and operational protection as physical papers without sharing their logistical disadvantages. The initiative proved that digital bills of lading can significantly shorten administrative processing times in sea transport.
Perspectives
B2B — organisations perspective
Companies involved in international goods transport benefit from a significantly shortened transfer time of freight documents between shippers, shipping lines and banks. This effectively avoids demurrage charges and delays in cargo release at the destination port.
Employees perspective
Employees in document management are relieved of time-consuming manual mail and verification rounds. Instead of physical files, they manage cargo releases via digital interfaces, which reduces the error rate in document recording.
Benefits
General
- Accelerated handling of international freight processes
- Minimisation of the risk of forgery in value and ownership documents
- Reduction of administrative costs for worldwide document courier services
B2B — organisations
- Faster release of containers at destination ports
- Lower capital tie-up through quicker processing of letters of credit
Employees
- Relief from error-prone manual verification processes
- Transparent real-time traceability of document status
Challenges
General
- Lack of comprehensive legal recognition of digital bills of lading in all national legal systems
- Need for uniform industry standardisation across different shipping lines
B2B — organisations
- High integration effort into existing ERP and foreign trade systems of partners
Employees
- Transition of established workflows to purely digital authorisation steps
Technology foundation
A distributed ledger technology was used for tamper-proof digital transmission and confirmation of freight documents, with the specific protocol described in publications as a proprietary partner solution.
Implementation examples
Pilot of digital bills of lading at ZIM
The time-consuming physical transmission of original papers often delays cargo release at destination ports and causes significant administrative costs.
In 2017, ZIM conducted a successful test run for issuing and transferring electronic bills of lading based on blockchain technology.
The liner shipping company ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. tested the complete lifecycle of an electronic bill of lading on a blockchain platform. Loading documents were issued digitally, validated and transmitted to the relevant trading partners without the need to send printed originals. The pilot trial served as proof of feasibility for the practical use of paperless processes in international liner shipping.
Elimination of the risk of document loss during transport and acceleration of ownership transfer for sea freight shipments.
Tags
Bill of lading, Document management, Sea freight, Digitalisation, Supply chain