[270314.EN.SEA] NYK Line Goes Live With First essDOCS e-bill of lading After Much Testing

FOR the first time the "essDOCS" electronic bill of lading solution has facilitated the transportation of a container on board NYK Line vessel, the Vancouver Bridge, travelling from Singapore to China. 

The negotiable electronic ocean or master bill of lading was issued by the shipping line to Elite International Logistics Singapore, who added the supporting eDocs and presented the set of electronic documents (eSet) to the American trade finance bank.

After completing a review, the American bank presented it to China CITIC Bank, which accepted the eSet under the terms of the eUCP letter of credit and sent the original eDocs to Wuhan XinLianChuang Plastics, to surrender the eB/L to NYK and receive their cargo at Shanghai port.

"This significant live transaction followed several weeks of testing in the fourth quarter of 2013, involving all the trial participants.

"EssDOCS has been undertaking similar tests with a number of other container lines who have completed successful testing last year and are planning transition to operational use in coffee and metals trades later this quarter.

"EssDOCS is in advanced talks with a number of other lines, and expects the number of users testing its liner eB/L solution to increase steadily throughout the year."

Said spokesman Lincoln Leung: "The use of our existing XML files and data structure meant we could populate the electronic NYK bill of lading draft quickly, and send it with one click to Elite to verify.

"Once Elite confirmed the eB/L draft, our Export Documentation Team in Singapore signed and issued the eB/L upon vessel departure. Overall we were not asked to change our process much, which is a good thing."

Said essDOCS chief executive Alexander Goulandris: "Our first liner eB/L marks essDOCS entrance into it's last major shipping segment, and demonstrates the growing interest of eDocs, and in particular, the eUCP in the Asia Pacific market."

Source : HKSG.