Comment / Hazards ahead – why electronic Bills of Lading aren't all smooth sailing

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The maritime industry’s rush toward digitisation has hit an unexpected legal reef.

Electronic bills of lading (eBLs), once hailed as a simple upgrade to replace paper documents, are proving far messier in practice. What seemed like a straightforward swap, digital files for paper bills, has spawned disputes over ownership, jurisdiction, and even whether digital signatures have real legal force when millions of dollars in cargo are at stake.

When the UK’s Electronic Trade Documents Act (ETDA) came into force in 2023, it ...