The world of digitisation and technology is upon us and the shipping and freight industry has been playing catch up compared to the other industries..
We featured a few of the instances in shipping where certain activities have actually been done using blockchain technology
- The world’s first smart bill of lading app
- India’s first blockchain enabled Letter of Credit
- First blockchain enabled trade finance transaction
In November 2017, ZIM Line announced that the first pilot of paperless Bills-of-Lading based on blockchain technology was completed in cooperation with Sparx Logistics and Wave Ltd..
The pioneering pilot, the first of its kind led by an ocean carrier, was concluded successfully as part of ZIM lines new platform along with a selection of their leading customers to test this solution for trade activities on multiple shipping lanes..
Following this successful pilot, ZIM line has been evaluating its platform in different trade lanes with more customers..
The exploratory transactions indicated that the blockchain technology can not only replace paper but also improve current activities which rely on emails, fax, and other existing tools..
In two recent transactions, Original Bills of Lading were transferred to the receiver within two hours of the ship’s departure, a process that could ordinarily take days or even weeks..!!
All documentation processes, including endorsements, ownership transfers etc. were performed over the blockchain-based platform..
One of the consignments was shipped from Vietnam to the US East Coast, and another one was a shipment of 11×40′ high cube containers loaded in Koper and shipped to Haifa..
After successfully completing dozens of shipments with multiple freight forwarders and BCOs, ZIM line is ready to begin the next phase by opening the opportunity to move to eB/L to all ZIM customers in selected trades..
In the first quarter of 2019, ZIM plans to focus on the Asia-South Africa and North America-Mediterranean trades.. These trades were chosen due to their diverse activities and involved players..
As per ZIM Line, digitising the shipping documentation process will have a tremendous effect of reducing the time, complexity and costs for all parties involved..
ZIM is pioneering the digitisation efforts and has started involving other industry stakeholders for the exchange of knowledge and the creation of industry standards..
Eyal Ben-Amram, ZIM CIO said: “Having gained considerable experience with this revolutionary technology, we are now moving forward. It’s part of our commitment to maximise digitisation, and at the same time enhance our customer service levels and nurturing customer relations”.
