COSCO Shipping subsidiary issues first bill of lading on GSBN blockchain – Ledger Insights
Today, the Global Shipping Business Network (GSBN) announced that its blockchain network has been used for the first electronic bill of lading (eBL) by COSCO Shipping Specialized Carriers. Its parent COSCO Shipping is one of the founding shareholders of GSBN.
Because COSCO Shipping Specialized Carriers handle non-standard cargo, it involves a more complex supply chain where the effectiveness of electronic waybills can have a greater impact. In this case, the client was ELDORADO, which specializes in the shipping of pulp, with plans to roll out the eBL service to other customers.
Carrier OOCL and Bank of China also support eBL on GSBN.
“This blockchain-based eBL transaction marks a breakthrough for our business – it is unprecedented and an impressive step forward in our digital transformation journey,” said Hu Yiyang, Digitization Team Leader of COSCO Shipping Specialized Carriers. “By leveraging the power of GSBN’s blockchain infrastructure and the IQAX eBL solution built on it, we are able to upgrade the customer experience and generate new value for our customers.”
GSBN itself is not an eBL provider. It is similar to the iPhone operating system and the IQAX eBL solution is like an app. IQAX is the first eBL provider to integrate with GSBN, and GSBN hopes to attract other eBL solution providers.
“I’m not an eBL solution provider, so I don’t really care who wins. I want people to adopt eBL regardless of the solution,” Betrand Chen, GSBN CEO, told Ledger Insights in December.
Industry estimates are that eBL adoption is 1.5% to 2%, which Chen believes is overly optimistic. To gain traction, adoption must be driven by businesses and supported by banks and shipping lines. Banks play a critical role because the bill of lading is the most important document in trade finance.
Chen sees interoperability as key, a topic that the Digital Container Shipping Association (DCSA) is actively working on with several eBL providers such as WaveBL, CargoX, edoxOnline, essDOCS, Bolero and IQAX eBL. GSBN works with both DCSA and the Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO) to support the introduction of standards.
If all the eBL solutions are interoperable, this means that banks do not need to do 15 different integrations to support every eBL solution on the market.
Chen estimates that it could be five years before the industry’s use of eBL solutions reaches a tipping point.
