Maritime digitalisation is transforming the global shipping industry, driving greater efficiency, transparency and resilience across the supply chain. Through the adoption of digital technologies, standardised data exchange and electronic documentation, stakeholders can streamline operations, enhance decision-making and support sustainability objectives. This page provides insights, guidance and resources on key developments in maritime digitalisation and their practical application across the industry.
Declaration
We, the undersigned stakeholders in the maritime industry, recognise the need for agreement on a harmonised, transparent, interoperable and verifiable approach to the issue and management of seafarer’s digital certificates.
In alignment with the goals of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and building upon the foundation of the IMO Compendium on Facilitation and Electronic Business, we hereby declare our commitment to:
Purpose and Scope
Establish common principles for issuing, revalidating, managing and verifying seafarers’ digital certificates. The Charter aims to:
This Charter:
Our Commitments
We agree to:
Enable interoperable data exchange
Implement harmonised protocols that support continuous, secure and verifiable data sharing between systems and stakeholders
This Charter is voluntary. Parties may adopt it and, if they choose, refer to it in contracts, policies or procedures. Parties will publicly acknowledge their signatory status to the Charter.
DEclaration
We invite all maritime stakeholders – including shipowners, operators, port authorities, technology providers and regulatory bodies – to join this initiative.
Together, we can agree on and adopt a common, robust, future-proof framework that supports the digitalisation of seafarers’ certificates.
Join Mads Wacher Kjærgaard from BIMCO as he dives into a critical question for global trade: How does the traditional paper bill of lading compare to its electronic counterpart?
In this video, we follow the journey of a shipment from Australia to China, exploring the costly delays and risks of paper bills versus the speed, efficiency, and security of electronic bills of lading (eBLs).
Discover why switching to eBLs is the smart move for modern shipping. Don’t miss this look at the future of trade.
WEBINAR RECORDING
Watch a recording of a BIMCO 15+15 webinar held on 2 October, where BIMCO's Grant Hunter gives a short presentation of the current situation and takes questions from the audience.
The industry is increasingly using electronic bills of lading (eBLs) as it recognises the benefits and opportunities that digital transformation brings. Many of the problems associated with using paper bills of lading can be avoided by using eBLs which:
Paper bills of lading are inefficient and slow down trade. They are vulnerable to fraud and human error. Their use results in unnecessary legal and commercial risks such as relying on letters of indemnity or getting lost in transit. BIMCO is a founding member of the Future International Trade (FIT) Alliance helping to raise awareness and accelerate adoption of electronic bills of lading.
BIMCO has developed and published an electronic bill of lading standard (eBL Standard) for the bulk shipping sector. Our goal is to help accelerate the digitalisation process by establishing common industry standards for electronic bills of lading.
The eBL Standard is a structured dataset consisting of 20 predefined data fields that are common to bulk shipping bills of lading.