At the Digital Container Shipping Association (DCSA) meeting on 15 February, nine of the world’s largest container shipping lines committed to adopting open-source electronic bills of lading by 2030.

The bill of lading is an essential document in maritime transport, serving both as a title to the goods and as a receipt for the goods shipped; it also sets out the terms and conditions governing the goods’ time on board a vessel.

This document, in its electronic form, is expected to eliminate the need for paper versions and generate savings of no less than 6.5 billion dollars. 

The DCSA has stated that its digitisation could generate annual growth in global trade of between 30 and 40 billion dollars. 

Shipping lines issue around 45 million bills of lading each year. Only 1.2 per cent of these were electronic in 2021.

Source: Le Marin, 15 February 2023.