-
Hapag-Lloyd will publish electronic bills of lading via Galileo, enabling faster, cheaper, and safer exchange of trade documents built on Digital Container Shipping Association open standards
-
Customers can manage eBLs within their platform of choice — CargoWise, INTTRA, or directly in Galileo
-
The partnership connects Hapag-Lloyd to roughly 22,000 logistics providers and approximately 90% of global ocean container capacity
Hapag-Lloyd, one of the world’s top five container shipping lines, has partnered with WiseTech Global to publish electronic bills of lading (eBLs) through Galileo — a cloud-native platform that unifies trade finance and electronic document workflows for the secure transfer of original documentation across the supply chain. The collaboration advances Hapag-Lloyd’s goal of achieving 100% eBL usage by 2030.
The partnership’s first milestone was a live eBL issued to GEODIS, a global transport and logistics leader and CargoWise customer, demonstrating the end-to-end movement of a verified electronic document from carrier to freight forwarder during an active shipment.
Through Galileo’s existing integration with CargoWise — and a forthcoming connection to INTTRA — Hapag-Lloyd gains access to the industry’s most comprehensive eBL aggregation platform, reaching a combined community of 22,000 logistics providers and other participants covering approximately 90% of global ocean container capacity. The platform connects carriers, freight forwarders, beneficial cargo owners, and banks in a single environment, ensuring that verified documentation keeps pace with cargo movement and trade finance settlement.
The integration is built on Digital Container Shipping Association’s API v3.0 standards. WiseTech Global has been among the earliest and most active implementers of DCSA standards since the association’s founding in 2019, and is a member of DCSA+, the partnership program designed to accelerate open digital standards across container shipping.
“Hapag-Lloyd is committed to delivering the industry’s leading customer experience, with 100% eBL adoption as a core pillar,” said Dr. Thore Lindemann, Team Lead IT – Connectivity & Internal Consulting at Hapag-Lloyd. “EBLs are faster, cheaper, and safer than traditional paper-based processes. By publishing to Galileo through DCSA-standardized APIs, we are taking the next step in enhancing our digital customer offerings.”
For Hapag-Lloyd customers, the experience is straightforward. Those who opt to receive a Galileo eBL can access it through their preferred platform — CargoWise, INTTRA, or Galileo directly. Self-service registration is available on the Hapag-Lloyd website, as well as through INTTRA, CargoWise, and other Galileo partner websites.
“The Bill of Lading is what releases cargo — and it is also what releases trade finance,” said Ashley Skaanild, Principal Advisor Carrier Integration and Transformation at WiseTech Global. “Today, paper is still breaking that chain. A document that should move instantly between a carrier, freight forwarder, cargo owner, and their bank instead gets photocopied, couriered, and manually verified, creating delay and real risk at every step. EBLs eliminate that entirely. The moment a shipment is confirmed, the verified document is already in the hands of whoever needs it — whether to release cargo or draw down financing.”
Skaanild added that Galileo enables logistics and trade finance to operate on the same timeline within the same platform. Banks can act on verified shipping documents in real time, cargo owners can access financing against goods still at sea, and the broader supply chain moves faster because information no longer lags behind the physical world.
“This is what it looks like when you start removing paper from global trade,” Skaanild said. “Not just digitizing a document, but reconnecting the financial and logistics flows that paper has kept artificially separate for decades.”
