Safeline Freight and Fortuna DMCC became the early adopters of TradeLens’ eBL in the UAE. Collectively, the two companies move more than 7,500 containers annually in and out of the UAE. Blockchain-enabled digital supply chain platform jointly developed by Maersk and IBM, TradeLens issued the first electronic Bill of Lading (eBL) in the UAE, enabling businesses to digitally issue, transfer, and submit original bills of lading using blockchain technology. It allows an original bill of lading to be digitally issued directly from a carrier and moved electronically through its journey with all the stakeholders, to alleviate the stress of sending physical papers from one stakeholder to the other through a courier process and eliminate the costly possibility of documents getting lost or forged, as well as enhance the efficiency of associated processes.
TradeLens eBL marks the latest addition to the platform’s product portfolio in the UAE, which also includes visibility and document collaboration tools making the platform a compelling proposition for any company to digitize its supply chain. The technology developed by TradeLens offers all shippers regardless of size or specialization a solution to digitalise their operations, particularly with the elimination of physical hand-off of documentation, and the modernization of supply chain infrastructure becoming critical during the pandemic. TradeLens’ ecosystem comprises more than 1000 organizations, including major ocean carriers representing over two-thirds of the global market, and is integrated with leading trade finance banks operating in multiple countries with a shared vision to help modernize the trade finance industry.