Fostering e-bills of lading globally
The Digital Container Shipping Association (Dcsa), in which most of the major carriers seek to standardise their digital activities, has put forward that the current pandemic forges the need to digitise the bill of lading (B/L) in shipping as well.
André Simha, global chief digital & innovation officer for MSC and DCSA chairman, recently noted: “At a global economic growth rate of 2.4% through 2030, as forecast by the OECD, we estimate that the industry can potentially save more than USD 4 billion per year if 50% eBL adoption is achieved."
The comparison: Iata introduced e-air waybills (e-AWB) for airfreight in 2010. At present, adoption of e-AWB is over 68%. Simha: "If we start on standardising eBL now, we have reason to believe a 50% adoption rate can be reached by 2030." (mw)