26 April 2024 (Lloyd's List) - HAPAG-LLOYD will adopt the electronic bill of lading solution provided by IQAX as part of its commitment to fully transition to eBLs by 2030.
The German line has already been using WaveBL, another eBL vendor, highlighting the company’s belief in the value of utilizing multiple vendors as it pivots away from paper bills of lading.
The Global Shipping Business Network, which provides the data platform over which the IQAX eBLs will be issued, stated that this collaboration will reinforce Hapag-Lloyd's commitment to digitize documentation flows and offer its customers greater choice to meet today’s volatile and complex supply chain needs.
To boost industry adoption, GSBN and Hapag-Lloyd worked closely with the Digital Shipping Container Association to ensure data sharing via application programming interfaces complies with the group’s latest eBL standard.
The DSCA was formed in 2019 by nine major carriers—MSC, Maersk, CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd, Ocean Network Express, Evergreen, Yang Ming, HMM, and ZIM—to drive standardization and digital innovation in the container shipping sector.
Hapag-Lloyd is also one of GSBN’s founding members, which also include China’s Cosco Shipping, Hutchison Ports, PSA, Qingdao Port International Co and Shanghai International Port Group.
"In a world where supply chains are increasingly complex, robust digital solutions are needed to address these challenges," said Nilesh Popat, Hapag-Lloyd's service delivery director.
IQAX reported that since 2023, more than 180,000 carriers' original eBLs have been issued using its solution, and the documentation for an estimated $29bn worth of goods has been digitized.
With nine banks already onboarded on the IQAX eBL, including the Bank of China and The Export-Import Bank of China, customers can also benefit from wider access to trade finance.
Bertrand Chen, GSBN's chief executive, added that the collaboration with Hapag-Lloyd shows the exponential eBL growth on its blockchain network. It also reinforces additional use cases with banks and eBL tokenization for trade finance.
