Pacific International Lines (PIL), a container operator based in Singapore, and IBM Singapore will work together in a blockchain trial to design and create an electronic bill of lading that will significantly enhance the documentation process in supply chain management.
A Bill of Lading is the crucial piece of documentation in the facilitation of international trade as it contains legal and commercial information:
- evidence of contract of carriage;
- receipt of goods; and
- title of the goods.
Traditionally, a Bill of Lading is a physical document which banks rely on to provide trade financing. The Bill of Lading is usually mailed to various parties leaving it open to fraud, loss of the original document, and document handling costs resulting in much inefficiency across the supply chain.
Electronic Bill of Lading
To improve the process, PIL and IBM have proposed using an electronic Bill of Lading (e-BL) to streamline and replicate the paper trail online on a blockchain ledger created by IBM. The e-BL will do away with the hard copy paper trail, cut unnecessary handling costs and the possibility of fraud.
The team plans to extend the electronic Bill of Lading to shadow an end-to-end shipment in real time. The creation of the electronic Bill of Lading will be in line with PIL’s ultimate goal of the creation of intermodal transport logistics ecosystem which incorporates the use of blockchain.
The PIL-IBM collaboration is supported by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, Singapore Shipping Association, Infocomm Media Development Authority, Singapore Customs (National TradePlatform), and Bank of China Limited Singapore Branch (BOC).
