Today, the Global Shipping Business Network (GSBN) announced that COSCO Shipping Specialized Carriers has used its blockchain network for its first electronic Bill of Lading (eBL). Its parent, COSCO Shipping, is one of the founding shareholders of GSBN.

Because COSCO Shipping Specialized Carriers deals with non-standard cargo, it involves a more complex supply chain where the efficiency of electronic bills of lading can have a greater impact. In this case, the customer was ELDORADO, which specializes in shipping pulp, with plans to roll out the eBL service to other customers.

Carrier OOCL and Bank of China are also supporting eBL on GSBN.

“This blockchain-based eBL transaction marks a breakthrough for our business – it is unprecedented and an impressive step in our digital transformation journey,” said Hu Yiyang, digitalization team leader at COSCO Shipping Specialized Carriers. “By harnessing the power of the GSBN blockchain infrastructure and the IQAX eBL solution built on top of it, we are able to enhance the customer experience and drive new value for our customers.”

GSBN itself is not an eBL provider. It resembles the iPhone operating system and the IQAX eBL solution is like an app. IQAX is the first eBL provider to have integrated 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, CEO of GSBN, 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 key role because the bill of lading is the most important document in trade finance.

Chen sees interoperability as key, a topic the Digital Container Shipping Association (DCSA) is actively working on with various eBL providers such as WaveBL, CargoX, edoxOnline, essDOCS, Bolero, and IQAX eBL. GSBN collaborates with the DCSA and the Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO) to support the adoption of standards.

If all eBL solutions are interoperable, this will mean that banks will not have to perform 15 different integrations to support all eBL solutions on the market.

Chen estimates that it could be five years before industry adoption of eBL solutions reaches a tipping point.