Maritime industry accelerates shift toward digital trade

IQAX, a digital trade solutions provider operating under Orient Overseas (International) Limited (OOIL), parent company of OOCL, has become ‘the first in the world’ to implement the latest Digital Container Shipping Association (DCSA) electronic bill of lading (eBL) 3.0 API standard.

As disclosed, the achievement, which went live June 11 following months of cooperation, was made possible through a collaboration between IQAX, Hong Kong’s independent, not-for-profit technology consortium Global Shipping Business Network (GSBN) and its carrier members.

Per GSBN, the teams worked together to make certain that the API-based data exchange is compliant and that it can complete the DCSA end-to-end conformance test.

Speaking about the development, Bertrand Chen, Chief Executive Officer at Global Shipping Business Network, highlighted: “As the industry accelerates its transition to digital trade documents, it is vital that GSBN continues to support the diverse needs of all global trade stakeholders. With multiple standards and data models emerging across the ecosystem, there is a growing need for a universal ‘data adapter’, a mechanism that enables trusted data to be used for different trade scenarios, with the proper consent.”

George Guo, CEO at IQAX, added: “We are happy to support our carrier customers that are DCSA members, such as Hapag-Lloyd, in implementing their preferred eBL standard. IQAX eBL is designed to prioritize the operational needs of container carriers as exemplified by this implementation.”

Hapag-Lloyd, a container shipping heavyweight based in Hamburg, Germany, adopted the IQAX eBL to issue electronic bills of lading via GSBN’s infrastructure in April 2024. The decision was part of the company’s effort to fully adopt eBLs by 2030 as a way to offer an ‘effective’ digital solution to address supply chain volatilities.

At the time, Hapag-Lloyd, GSBN and DCSA also worked together to ensure that data is shared using APIs compliant with the DCSA eBL API 3.0.

As informed, the adoption of electronic bills of lading has been on an upward trajectory, with over 550,000 eBLs processed to date via GSBN’s blockchain-backed infrastructure. The organization has said that, since 2023, it has implemented multiple eBL standards, including those from DCSA and shipping association BIMCO.

Looking ahead, GSBN will reportedly keep working on upcoming data models, like the UN/CEFACT Multimodal Transport Reference Data Model and ISO 5909, which specifies the business process and data requirements of eBLs, in order to scale up the digitalization of trade documents.

In addition to this, as noted, GSBN is collaborating with the International Chambers of Commerce’s Digital Standards Initiative (ICC DSI) to ‘improve’ data harmonization as a means of ‘unlocking the full potential’ of digital trade. This is seen as a ‘vital’ effort, given that a lack of digital processes in the current decarbonization landscape in shipping represents a major hurdle toward net zero.

Beyond Hapag-Lloyd, numerous other maritime industry stakeholders have expressed interest in issuing electronic bills of lading. DCSA members, which comprise industry majors such as MSC, Maersk, CMA CGM, Evergreen, HMM, Ocean Network Express (ONE), Yang Ming and ZIM, have all committed to a 100% adoption of eBLs by 2030.

What is more, in February 2025, it was revealed that ONE was set to adopt the latest DCSA’s eBL standard. This marked the second product that the Singapore-based maritime transportation player put into practice via the GSBN platform, building on the successful implementation of cargo release.