FAQ
FAQ
WAVE BL supports all types of documents including all Bills, Certificates and other documents required for trade and trade finance.
Yes. WAVE BL mirrors the business process that the industry is used to. Amending a document over the WAVE BL network works exactly the same as it would with a paper document — but much faster.
WAVE BL enables the exchange of all documents for all purposes. Documentary credit, collections and receivables are just a few examples of the trade finance tools supported by our network.
Yes. When they first activate the WAVE BL application, users generate their own electronic signatures. These are used to sign, endorse, add signed comments to, and surrender electronic documents.
WAVE BL uses blockchain technology to let parties track and manage the originality, title and transaction history of the documents they send and receive via our network. The network’s decentralized architecture, which blockchain enables, ensures that any party holding the possession or title of a document has the same level of control as they would with a paper document.
WAVE BL supports all types of documents including all Bills, Certificates and other documents required for trade and trade finance.
Yes. WAVE BL mirrors the business process that the industry is used to. Amending a document over the WAVE BL network works exactly the same as it would with a paper document — but much faster.
WAVE BL enables the exchange of all documents for all purposes. Documentary credit, collections and receivables are just a few examples of the trade finance tools supported by our network.
Yes. When they first activate the WAVE BL application, users generate their own electronic signatures. These are used to sign, endorse, add signed comments to, and surrender electronic documents.
WAVE BL uses blockchain technology to let parties track and manage the originality, title and transaction history of the documents they send and receive via our network. The network’s decentralized architecture, which blockchain enables, ensures that any party holding the possession or title of a document has the same level of control as they would with a paper document.
The WAVE BL bylaws are a legal document that defines the roles, rights and liabilities of all users amongst themselves, defining contractual obligations with regards to the issuing of documents or any other usage of the network.
Exactly the same as a paper BL, including both the front and back page (i.e., the contract of carriage itself). The one difference is that the words “Issued electronically on WAVE BL” are automatically added to issued BLs.
No, the contract of carriage entered into by the carrier is the same as that used for paper Bills of Lading, and is governed by whichever laws and regulations apply to that carrier. The WAVE BL bylaws strictly address the transfer of documents, and not any of the commercial dealings between the parties.
As of December 2019, P&I liability for a WAVE BL Bill of Lading is exactly the same as for a paper Bill of Lading. The International Group of P&I Clubs has fully approved the WAVE BL network and bylaws.
WAVE BL has been built to fully implement the rules defined in the English COGSA-1992 law. The WAVE BL bylaws are governed by the laws of
on contractual obligations between all potential parties, there is no need for a state law enabling the use of electronic Bills of Lading. The main obstacle facing digitization is in countries where customs authorities still require the presentation of physical paper documents. However, this requirement is increasingly disappearing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
All parties using WAVE BL, including issuers, exporters, importers, and banks, must agree to accept the WAVE BL bylaws with respect to the definition of an original document on WAVE BL and not challenge the originality of a document issued on WAVE BL in court.
The WAVE BL bylaws are a legal document that defines the roles, rights and liabilities of all users amongst themselves, defining contractual obligations with regards to the issuing of documents or any other usage of the network.
Exactly the same as a paper BL, including both the front and back page (i.e., the contract of carriage itself). The one difference is that the words “Issued electronically on WAVE BL” are automatically added to issued BLs.
No, the contract of carriage entered into by the carrier is the same as that used for paper Bills of Lading, and is governed by whichever laws and regulations apply to that carrier. The WAVE BL bylaws strictly address the transfer of documents, and not any of the commercial dealings between the parties.
As of December 2019, P&I liability for a WAVE BL Bill of Lading is exactly the same as for a paper Bill of Lading. The International Group of P&I Clubs has fully approved the WAVE BL network and bylaws.
WAVE BL has been built to fully implement the rules defined in the English COGSA-1992 law. The WAVE BL bylaws are governed by the laws of
on contractual obligations between all potential parties, there is no need for a state law enabling the use of electronic Bills of Lading. The main obstacle facing digitization is in countries where customs authorities still require the presentation of physical paper documents. However, this requirement is increasingly disappearing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
All parties using WAVE BL, including issuers, exporters, importers, and banks, must agree to accept the WAVE BL bylaws with respect to the definition of an original document on WAVE BL and not challenge the originality of a document issued on WAVE BL in court.
All documents transferred between WAVE BL applications are encrypted using a combination of symmetric and asymmetric keys. Documents are encrypted such that only the intended recipient, and no one else, can decrypt the document.
No. WAVE BL, as a company, has no access to customer documents.
Upon issuance, the issuer signs the title document with their own private key which embeds a reference of this signature in the issuance blockchain transaction. Each future holder of the document or even an entity that holds a copy of the title document, can verify that the document hasn’t been changed from the issuance by using the public key embedded in the issuers contact and issuance blockchain transaction.
After a document is surrendered, the issuer has the ability to send a copy of the surrendered document with an added surrender acceptance signature. This signature will be validated only if the surrendering party’s possession has been revoked.
Yes. WAVE BL contact verification is a process which is handled directly between two WAVE BL users. Its purpose is to verify that the contact information that you have imported to WAVE BL is in fact the contact information of the user you are communicating with via phone, email, SMS or other methods.
No. All blockchain identifiers are used only once and cannot be linked to the organization they belong to by analyzing the blockchain ledger
No. Each WAVE BL application stores received and sent documents locally.
Yes, the WAVE BL Core, Transport Agent, and blockchain wallets are highly available. In order to achieve full, high availability, WAVE BL should be integrated into highly available databases, storage, and queues.
A third party or hacker could theoretically remove “detachable” signatures from a document. However, a third party or hacker cannot modify or remove WAVE BL’s unique undetachable signature without impacting its validity, because unique signatures contain a blockchain reference.
No, but if you wish to become a miner please refer to our operations team.
No. When a document is issued, the only check that is performed by the WAVE BL service is a check to determine whether the issuing organization has sufficient tokens to issue the document. WAVE BL never blocks document transfers for any other reason.
All documents transferred between WAVE BL applications are encrypted using a combination of symmetric and asymmetric keys. Documents are encrypted such that only the intended recipient, and no one else, can decrypt the document.
No. WAVE BL, as a company, has no access to customer documents.
Upon issuance, the issuer signs the title document with their own private key which embeds a reference of this signature in the issuance blockchain transaction. Each future holder of the document or even an entity that holds a copy of the title document, can verify that the document hasn’t been changed from the issuance by using the public key embedded in the issuers contact and issuance blockchain transaction.
After a document is surrendered, the issuer has the ability to send a copy of the surrendered document with an added surrender acceptance signature. This signature will be validated only if the surrendering party’s possession has been revoked.
Yes. WAVE BL contact verification is a process which is handled directly between two WAVE BL users. Its purpose is to verify that the contact information that you have imported to WAVE BL is in fact the contact information of the user you are communicating with via phone, email, SMS or other methods.
No. All blockchain identifiers are used only once and cannot be linked to the organization they belong to by analyzing the blockchain ledger
No. Each WAVE BL application stores received and sent documents locally.
Yes, the WAVE BL Core, Transport Agent, and blockchain wallets are highly available. In order to achieve full, high availability, WAVE BL should be integrated into highly available databases, storage, and queues.
A third party or hacker could theoretically remove “detachable” signatures from a document. However, a third party or hacker cannot modify or remove WAVE BL’s unique undetachable signature without impacting its validity, because unique signatures contain a blockchain reference.
No, but if you wish to become a miner please refer to our operations team.
No. When a document is issued, the only check that is performed by the WAVE BL service is a check to determine whether the issuing organization has sufficient tokens to issue the document. WAVE BL never blocks document transfers for any other reason.
Pay as you go This option is best suited to users responsible for small or unpredictable numbers of eBL transactions. Customers are charged per eBL transaction and billed on a monthly basis at the end of each month. A pay as you go plan covers one year of usage.
Subscription Customers may purchase packages of 100 or more eBLs. This option is best suited to users expecting to cover at least 100 transactions per year and offers a lower price per transaction than the pay as you go price. If a customer runs out of eBLs on their package, they may purchase supplementary packages for the remainder of their contract term. This option is billed in advance and covers one year of usage.
Your Incoterms agreement defines which party pays for the entire eBL transaction. If you are not the party paying for the transaction, any transfer you participate in will be free of charge.
The new model allows any party to use the WAVE BL platform and reap the benefits of instant paperless trade; only a single party (defined by your incoterms agreement) covers the cost of the transaction. In other words, the transaction is entirely free for all but one party.
The paying party has to purchase one of our two plans for eBL transactions, pay as you go or package plan.
The non-paying party can continue to enjoy our services free of charge.
Your consignees can use WAVE BL without any subscription as long as you or another party is covering the eBL costs for a given transaction (see full explanation here). A consignee needs to purchase a subscription or pay-as-you-go option only if it is planning to cover eBL costs itself.
Yes, to transact an eBL from one party to the other, all members of the trade transaction must have a WAVE BL account.
The shipping lines that offer our eBL service are MSC, ZIM, Hapag-Lloyd and ONE.
The entire lifecycle of an eBL–transfer, amendment, endorsement and surrender–is called a transaction.
During the trial period, all platform features are available for use. Users can issue, transfer, amend and surrender eBLs. Account administrators can also add more users and open more business units. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with our support team for a personal consultation on how to create the best organizational hierarchy for your company.
Yes, if it’s the first time you open an account, there is a 2-month free trial period once you transact your first eBL to its next destination. During the trial period, all platform features are available for use free of charge.
Only one party pays for an entire eBL transaction after issuance. The paying party should be according to your agreement between you and your trade partners.
If you are the paying party, then you will pay the eBL costs. All other trade partners will be able to send those eBLs that they receive from the paying party, for free.
Examples:
- 1. A booking agent (i.e., a third party) makes a booking on behalf of a shipper in a deal that also includes a carrier, a consignee and additional third parties. All parties have agreed in advance that the booking agent will be responsible for eBL costs in this specific deal. In this scenario, the carrier issues the eBL, paying for its issuance. All other eBL transactions – transfer, amendment, endorsement and surrender – are paid for by the booking agent, as agreed.
- 2. In a deal between a carrier and two NVOCCs, NVOCC₁ is a shipper and NVOCC₂ is a consignee. The carrier pays to issue the Master eBL, and all parties have agreed that NVOCC₁ will be responsible for eBL costs after issuance. As a result, NVOCC₂ can perform any operations – transfer, amendment, endorsement and surrender – on the Master eBL with no further payment. NVOCC₂ then issues its House Bill of Lading to its customers ‒ a shipper and a consignee. This is a new eBL, so NVOCC₂ pays for its issuance and all three parties – NVOCC₂ and its two customers – must reach an agreement regarding which one of them will pay for all further transactions on the House eBL.
No, WAVE BL is a third-party service company and is not included in shipping line fees.
Yes, you can move from one plan to the other at any time.
- 1. and need more than 2,500 eBLs/year, please contact sales@wavebl.com.
- 2. and require fewer than 2,500 eBLs/year, please contact onboarding@wavebl.com or schedule a
consultation here.
No. At this moment WAVE BL supports the transfer of Bills of Lading, but does not currently support carrier-specific documents such as shipping instructions and delivery orders.
You can always stay up-to-date and monitor your eBL usage on the dashboard at the top of your inbox, which displays the number of eBLs used and the number remaining. In the image below, 1 eBL has been used, with 100 eBLs remaining.
If you have a subscription plan, you can easily find your plan’s end date on the dashboard at the top of your inbox. In the image below, the subscription’s end date is Sep 21, 2023.
Yes. You can send your eBL via our platform as long as your bank receives electronic documents. If you use a Letter of Credit, ensure the LC application contains a request to use an electronic Bill of Lading. Your bank doesn’t use eBLs yet? Contact our sales team at sales@wavebl.com.
Please refer to our Terms of Use to learn about our subscription cancelation policy. For further inquiries, please contact sales@wavebl.com.
WAVE BL supports all types of documents including all Bills, Certificates and other documents required for trade and trade finance.
Yes. WAVE BL mirrors the business process that the industry is used to. Amending a document over the WAVE BL network works exactly the same as it would with a paper document — but much faster.
WAVE BL enables the exchange of all documents for all purposes. Documentary credit, collections and receivables are just a few examples of the trade finance tools supported by our network.
Yes. When they first activate the WAVE BL application, users generate their own electronic signatures. These are used to sign, endorse, add signed comments to, and surrender electronic documents.
WAVE BL uses blockchain technology to let parties track and manage the originality, title and transaction history of the documents they send and receive via our network. The network’s decentralized architecture, which blockchain enables, ensures that any party holding the possession or title of a document has the same level of control as they would with a paper document.
WAVE BL supports all types of documents including all Bills, Certificates and other documents required for trade and trade finance.
Yes. WAVE BL mirrors the business process that the industry is used to. Amending a document over the WAVE BL network works exactly the same as it would with a paper document — but much faster.
WAVE BL enables the exchange of all documents for all purposes. Documentary credit, collections and receivables are just a few examples of the trade finance tools supported by our network.
Yes. When they first activate the WAVE BL application, users generate their own electronic signatures. These are used to sign, endorse, add signed comments to, and surrender electronic documents.
WAVE BL uses blockchain technology to let parties track and manage the originality, title and transaction history of the documents they send and receive via our network. The network’s decentralized architecture, which blockchain enables, ensures that any party holding the possession or title of a document has the same level of control as they would with a paper document.
The WAVE BL bylaws are a legal document that defines the roles, rights and liabilities of all users amongst themselves, defining contractual obligations with regards to the issuing of documents or any other usage of the network.
Exactly the same as a paper BL, including both the front and back page (i.e., the contract of carriage itself). The one difference is that the words “Issued electronically on WAVE BL” are automatically added to issued BLs.
No, the contract of carriage entered into by the carrier is the same as that used for paper Bills of Lading, and is governed by whichever laws and regulations apply to that carrier. The WAVE BL bylaws strictly address the transfer of documents, and not any of the commercial dealings between the parties.
As of December 2019, P&I liability for a WAVE BL Bill of Lading is exactly the same as for a paper Bill of Lading. The International Group of P&I Clubs has fully approved the WAVE BL network and bylaws.
WAVE BL has been built to fully implement the rules defined in the English COGSA-1992 law. The WAVE BL bylaws are governed by the laws of
on contractual obligations between all potential parties, there is no need for a state law enabling the use of electronic Bills of Lading. The main obstacle facing digitization is in countries where customs authorities still require the presentation of physical paper documents. However, this requirement is increasingly disappearing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
All parties using WAVE BL, including issuers, exporters, importers, and banks, must agree to accept the WAVE BL bylaws with respect to the definition of an original document on WAVE BL and not challenge the originality of a document issued on WAVE BL in court.
The WAVE BL bylaws are a legal document that defines the roles, rights and liabilities of all users amongst themselves, defining contractual obligations with regards to the issuing of documents or any other usage of the network.
Exactly the same as a paper BL, including both the front and back page (i.e., the contract of carriage itself). The one difference is that the words “Issued electronically on WAVE BL” are automatically added to issued BLs.
No, the contract of carriage entered into by the carrier is the same as that used for paper Bills of Lading, and is governed by whichever laws and regulations apply to that carrier. The WAVE BL bylaws strictly address the transfer of documents, and not any of the commercial dealings between the parties.
As of December 2019, P&I liability for a WAVE BL Bill of Lading is exactly the same as for a paper Bill of Lading. The International Group of P&I Clubs has fully approved the WAVE BL network and bylaws.
WAVE BL has been built to fully implement the rules defined in the English COGSA-1992 law. The WAVE BL bylaws are governed by the laws of
on contractual obligations between all potential parties, there is no need for a state law enabling the use of electronic Bills of Lading. The main obstacle facing digitization is in countries where customs authorities still require the presentation of physical paper documents. However, this requirement is increasingly disappearing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
All parties using WAVE BL, including issuers, exporters, importers, and banks, must agree to accept the WAVE BL bylaws with respect to the definition of an original document on WAVE BL and not challenge the originality of a document issued on WAVE BL in court.
All documents transferred between WAVE BL applications are encrypted using a combination of symmetric and asymmetric keys. Documents are encrypted such that only the intended recipient, and no one else, can decrypt the document.
No. WAVE BL, as a company, has no access to customer documents.
Upon issuance, the issuer signs the title document with their own private key which embeds a reference of this signature in the issuance blockchain transaction. Each future holder of the document or even an entity that holds a copy of the title document, can verify that the document hasn’t been changed from the issuance by using the public key embedded in the issuers contact and issuance blockchain transaction.
After a document is surrendered, the issuer has the ability to send a copy of the surrendered document with an added surrender acceptance signature. This signature will be validated only if the surrendering party’s possession has been revoked.
Yes. WAVE BL contact verification is a process which is handled directly between two WAVE BL users. Its purpose is to verify that the contact information that you have imported to WAVE BL is in fact the contact information of the user you are communicating with via phone, email, SMS or other methods.
No. All blockchain identifiers are used only once and cannot be linked to the organization they belong to by analyzing the blockchain ledger
No. Each WAVE BL application stores received and sent documents locally.
Yes, the WAVE BL Core, Transport Agent, and blockchain wallets are highly available. In order to achieve full, high availability, WAVE BL should be integrated into highly available databases, storage, and queues.
A third party or hacker could theoretically remove “detachable” signatures from a document. However, a third party or hacker cannot modify or remove WAVE BL’s unique undetachable signature without impacting its validity, because unique signatures contain a blockchain reference.
No, but if you wish to become a miner please refer to our operations team.
No. When a document is issued, the only check that is performed by the WAVE BL service is a check to determine whether the issuing organization has sufficient tokens to issue the document. WAVE BL never blocks document transfers for any other reason.
All documents transferred between WAVE BL applications are encrypted using a combination of symmetric and asymmetric keys. Documents are encrypted such that only the intended recipient, and no one else, can decrypt the document.
No. WAVE BL, as a company, has no access to customer documents.
Upon issuance, the issuer signs the title document with their own private key which embeds a reference of this signature in the issuance blockchain transaction. Each future holder of the document or even an entity that holds a copy of the title document, can verify that the document hasn’t been changed from the issuance by using the public key embedded in the issuers contact and issuance blockchain transaction.
After a document is surrendered, the issuer has the ability to send a copy of the surrendered document with an added surrender acceptance signature. This signature will be validated only if the surrendering party’s possession has been revoked.
Yes. WAVE BL contact verification is a process which is handled directly between two WAVE BL users. Its purpose is to verify that the contact information that you have imported to WAVE BL is in fact the contact information of the user you are communicating with via phone, email, SMS or other methods.
No. All blockchain identifiers are used only once and cannot be linked to the organization they belong to by analyzing the blockchain ledger
No. Each WAVE BL application stores received and sent documents locally.
Yes, the WAVE BL Core, Transport Agent, and blockchain wallets are highly available. In order to achieve full, high availability, WAVE BL should be integrated into highly available databases, storage, and queues.
A third party or hacker could theoretically remove “detachable” signatures from a document. However, a third party or hacker cannot modify or remove WAVE BL’s unique undetachable signature without impacting its validity, because unique signatures contain a blockchain reference.
No, but if you wish to become a miner please refer to our operations team.
No. When a document is issued, the only check that is performed by the WAVE BL service is a check to determine whether the issuing organization has sufficient tokens to issue the document. WAVE BL never blocks document transfers for any other reason.
Pay as you go This option is best suited to users responsible for small or unpredictable numbers of eBL transactions. Customers are charged per eBL transaction and billed on a monthly basis at the end of each month. A pay as you go plan covers one year of usage.
Subscription Customers may purchase packages of 100 or more eBLs. This option is best suited to users expecting to cover at least 100 transactions per year and offers a lower price per transaction than the pay as you go price. If a customer runs out of eBLs on their package, they may purchase supplementary packages for the remainder of their contract term. This option is billed in advance and covers one year of usage.
Your Incoterms agreement defines which party pays for the entire eBL transaction. If you are not the party paying for the transaction, any transfer you participate in will be free of charge.
The new model allows any party to use the WAVE BL platform and reap the benefits of instant paperless trade; only a single party (defined by your incoterms agreement) covers the cost of the transaction. In other words, the transaction is entirely free for all but one party.
The paying party has to purchase one of our two plans for eBL transactions, pay as you go or package plan.
The non-paying party can continue to enjoy our services free of charge.
Your consignees can use WAVE BL without any subscription as long as you or another party is covering the eBL costs for a given transaction (see full explanation here). A consignee needs to purchase a subscription or pay-as-you-go option only if it is planning to cover eBL costs itself.
Yes, to transact an eBL from one party to the other, all members of the trade transaction must have a WAVE BL account.
The shipping lines that offer our eBL service are MSC, ZIM, Hapag-Lloyd and ONE.
The entire lifecycle of an eBL–transfer, amendment, endorsement and surrender–is called a transaction.
During the trial period, all platform features are available for use. Users can issue, transfer, amend and surrender eBLs. Account administrators can also add more users and open more business units. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with our support team for a personal consultation on how to create the best organizational hierarchy for your company.
Yes, if it’s the first time you open an account, there is a 2-month free trial period once you transact your first eBL to its next destination. During the trial period, all platform features are available for use free of charge.
Only one party pays for an entire eBL transaction after issuance. The paying party should be according to your agreement between you and your trade partners.
If you are the paying party, then you will pay the eBL costs. All other trade partners will be able to send those eBLs that they receive from the paying party, for free.
Examples:
- 1. A booking agent (i.e., a third party) makes a booking on behalf of a shipper in a deal that also includes a carrier, a consignee and additional third parties. All parties have agreed in advance that the booking agent will be responsible for eBL costs in this specific deal. In this scenario, the carrier issues the eBL, paying for its issuance. All other eBL transactions – transfer, amendment, endorsement and surrender – are paid for by the booking agent, as agreed.
- 2. In a deal between a carrier and two NVOCCs, NVOCC₁ is a shipper and NVOCC₂ is a consignee. The carrier pays to issue the Master eBL, and all parties have agreed that NVOCC₁ will be responsible for eBL costs after issuance. As a result, NVOCC₂ can perform any operations – transfer, amendment, endorsement and surrender – on the Master eBL with no further payment. NVOCC₂ then issues its House Bill of Lading to its customers ‒ a shipper and a consignee. This is a new eBL, so NVOCC₂ pays for its issuance and all three parties – NVOCC₂ and its two customers – must reach an agreement regarding which one of them will pay for all further transactions on the House eBL.
No, WAVE BL is a third-party service company and is not included in shipping line fees.
Yes, you can move from one plan to the other at any time.
- 1. and need more than 2,500 eBLs/year, please contact sales@wavebl.com.
- 2. and require fewer than 2,500 eBLs/year, please contact onboarding@wavebl.com or schedule a
consultation here.
No. At this moment WAVE BL supports the transfer of Bills of Lading, but does not currently support carrier-specific documents such as shipping instructions and delivery orders.
You can always stay up-to-date and monitor your eBL usage on the dashboard at the top of your inbox, which displays the number of eBLs used and the number remaining. In the image below, 1 eBL has been used, with 100 eBLs remaining.
If you have a subscription plan, you can easily find your plan’s end date on the dashboard at the top of your inbox. In the image below, the subscription’s end date is Sep 21, 2023.
Yes. You can send your eBL via our platform as long as your bank receives electronic documents. If you use a Letter of Credit, ensure the LC application contains a request to use an electronic Bill of Lading. Your bank doesn’t use eBLs yet? Contact our sales team at sales@wavebl.com.
Please refer to our Terms of Use to learn about our subscription cancelation policy. For further inquiries, please contact sales@wavebl.com.
WAVE BL supports all types of documents including all Bills, Certificates and other documents required for trade and trade finance.
WAVE BL uses blockchain technology to let parties track and manage the originality, title and transaction history of the documents they send and receive via our network. The network’s decentralized architecture, which blockchain enables, ensures that any party holding the possession or title of a document has the same level of control as they would with a paper document.
Yes. When they first activate the WAVE BL application, users generate their own electronic signatures. These are used to sign, endorse, add signed comments to, and surrender electronic documents.
Yes. WAVE BL mirrors the business process that the industry is used to. Amending a document over the WAVE BL network works exactly the same as it would with a paper document — but much faster.
WAVE BL enables the exchange of all documents for all purposes. Documentary credit, collections and receivables are just a few examples of the trade finance tools supported by our network.
The WAVE BL bylaws are a legal document that defines the roles, rights and liabilities of all users amongst themselves, defining contractual obligations with regards to the issuing of documents or any other usage of the network.
All parties using WAVE BL, including issuers, exporters, importers, and banks, must agree to accept the WAVE BL bylaws with respect to the definition of an original document on WAVE BL and not challenge the originality of a document issued on WAVE BL in court.
on contractual obligations between all potential parties, there is no need for a state law enabling the use of electronic Bills of Lading. The main obstacle facing digitization is in countries where customs authorities still require the presentation of physical paper documents. However, this requirement is increasingly disappearing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
WAVE BL has been built to fully implement the rules defined in the English COGSA-1992 law. The WAVE BL bylaws are governed by the laws of
Exactly the same as a paper BL, including both the front and back page (i.e., the contract of carriage itself). The one difference is that the words “Issued electronically on WAVE BL” are automatically added to issued BLs.
No, the contract of carriage entered into by the carrier is the same as that used for paper Bills of Lading, and is governed by whichever laws and regulations apply to that carrier. The WAVE BL bylaws strictly address the transfer of documents, and not any of the commercial dealings between the parties.
As of December 2019, P&I liability for a WAVE BL Bill of Lading is exactly the same as for a paper Bill of Lading. The International Group of P&I Clubs has fully approved the WAVE BL network and bylaws.
All documents transferred between WAVE BL applications are encrypted using a combination of symmetric and asymmetric keys. Documents are encrypted such that only the intended recipient, and no one else, can decrypt the document.
A third party or hacker could theoretically remove “detachable” signatures from a document. However, a third party or hacker cannot modify or remove WAVE BL’s unique undetachable signature without impacting its validity, because unique signatures contain a blockchain reference.
No, but if you wish to become a miner please refer to our operations team.
No. When a document is issued, the only check that is performed by the WAVE BL service is a check to determine whether the issuing organization has sufficient tokens to issue the document. WAVE BL never blocks document transfers for any other reason.
No. Each WAVE BL application stores received and sent documents locally.
Yes, the WAVE BL Core, Transport Agent, and blockchain wallets are highly available. In order to achieve full, high availability, WAVE BL should be integrated into highly available databases, storage, and queues.
No. WAVE BL, as a company, has no access to customer documents.
Upon issuance, the issuer signs the title document with their own private key which embeds a reference of this signature in the issuance blockchain transaction. Each future holder of the document or even an entity that holds a copy of the title document, can verify that the document hasn’t been changed from the issuance by using the public key embedded in the issuers contact and issuance blockchain transaction.
After a document is surrendered, the issuer has the ability to send a copy of the surrendered document with an added surrender acceptance signature. This signature will be validated only if the surrendering party’s possession has been revoked.
Yes. WAVE BL contact verification is a process which is handled directly between two WAVE BL users. Its purpose is to verify that the contact information that you have imported to WAVE BL is in fact the contact information of the user you are communicating with via phone, email, SMS or other methods.
No. All blockchain identifiers are used only once and cannot be linked to the organization they belong to by analyzing the blockchain ledger
Pay as you go This option is best suited to users responsible for small or unpredictable numbers of eBL transactions. Customers are charged per eBL transaction and billed on a monthly basis at the end of each month. A pay as you go plan covers one year of usage.
Subscription Customers may purchase packages of 100 or more eBLs. This option is best suited to users expecting to cover at least 100 transactions per year and offers a lower price per transaction than the pay as you go price. If a customer runs out of eBLs on their package, they may purchase supplementary packages for the remainder of their contract term. This option is billed in advance and covers one year of usage.
Please refer to our Terms of Use to learn about our subscription cancelation policy. For further inquiries, please contact sales@wavebl.com.
Yes. You can send your eBL via our platform as long as your bank receives electronic documents. If you use a Letter of Credit, ensure the LC application contains a request to use an electronic Bill of Lading. Your bank doesn’t use eBLs yet? Contact our sales team at sales@wavebl.com.
If you have a subscription plan, you can easily find your plan’s end date on the dashboard at the top of your inbox. In the image below, the subscription’s end date is Sep 21, 2023.
You can always stay up-to-date and monitor your eBL usage on the dashboard at the top of your inbox, which displays the number of eBLs used and the number remaining. In the image below, 1 eBL has been used, with 100 eBLs remaining.
Your Incoterms agreement defines which party pays for the entire eBL transaction. If you are not the party paying for the transaction, any transfer you participate in will be free of charge.
The new model allows any party to use the WAVE BL platform and reap the benefits of instant paperless trade; only a single party (defined by your incoterms agreement) covers the cost of the transaction. In other words, the transaction is entirely free for all but one party.
The paying party has to purchase one of our two plans for eBL transactions, pay as you go or package plan.
The non-paying party can continue to enjoy our services free of charge.
Your consignees can use WAVE BL without any subscription as long as you or another party is covering the eBL costs for a given transaction (see full explanation here). A consignee needs to purchase a subscription or pay-as-you-go option only if it is planning to cover eBL costs itself.
Yes, to transact an eBL from one party to the other, all members of the trade transaction must have a WAVE BL account.
The shipping lines that offer our eBL service are MSC, ZIM, Hapag-Lloyd and ONE.
The entire lifecycle of an eBL–transfer, amendment, endorsement and surrender–is called a transaction.
During the trial period, all platform features are available for use. Users can issue, transfer, amend and surrender eBLs. Account administrators can also add more users and open more business units. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with our support team for a personal consultation on how to create the best organizational hierarchy for your company.
Yes, if it’s the first time you open an account, there is a 2-month free trial period once you transact your first eBL to its next destination. During the trial period, all platform features are available for use free of charge.
Only one party pays for an entire eBL transaction after issuance. The paying party should be according to your agreement between you and your trade partners.
If you are the paying party, then you will pay the eBL costs. All other trade partners will be able to send those eBLs that they receive from the paying party, for free.
Examples:
- 1. A booking agent (i.e., a third party) makes a booking on behalf of a shipper in a deal that also includes a carrier, a consignee and additional third parties. All parties have agreed in advance that the booking agent will be responsible for eBL costs in this specific deal. In this scenario, the carrier issues the eBL, paying for its issuance. All other eBL transactions – transfer, amendment, endorsement and surrender – are paid for by the booking agent, as agreed.
- 2. In a deal between a carrier and two NVOCCs, NVOCC₁ is a shipper and NVOCC₂ is a consignee. The carrier pays to issue the Master eBL, and all parties have agreed that NVOCC₁ will be responsible for eBL costs after issuance. As a result, NVOCC₂ can perform any operations – transfer, amendment, endorsement and surrender – on the Master eBL with no further payment. NVOCC₂ then issues its House Bill of Lading to its customers ‒ a shipper and a consignee. This is a new eBL, so NVOCC₂ pays for its issuance and all three parties – NVOCC₂ and its two customers – must reach an agreement regarding which one of them will pay for all further transactions on the House eBL.
No, WAVE BL is a third-party service company and is not included in shipping line fees.
Yes, you can move from one plan to the other at any time.
- 1. and need more than 2,500 eBLs/year, please contact sales@wavebl.com.
- 2. and require fewer than 2,500 eBLs/year, please contact onboarding@wavebl.com or schedule a
consultation here.
No. At this moment WAVE BL supports the transfer of Bills of Lading, but does not currently support carrier-specific documents such as shipping instructions and delivery orders.
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