Bill of lading verification by Windward
Windward , a maritime data and analytics company, announced the launch of Container Insights to provide live screening and tracking of containers and BOL verification (Bill of Lading is a receipt for the cargo).
As part of any due diligence process in a transaction, banks screen every company and vessel involved in the deal. Container numbers are included in the Bill of Lading (BOL) and Letter of Credit (LC) but do not necessarily contain the vessel IMO (International Maritime Organization) number making it difficult for banks to fully vet the transaction. Additionally, as part of anti-money laundering and fraud processes, banks need to independently investigate and validate that those transactions indeed took place and were not used as methods of laundering money.
Windward’s Container Insights allows customers to provide data and tracking information on any container of interest and connecting the container to any vessel, location, and entity . This ability enables users to monitor in real-time the location of the container, its status and expected and scheduled ETA. The system also provides an independent validation capability for BOL verification with insights on the actual delivery status.
“Windward is growing at an incredible pace. We are launching new capabilities, expanding our data sets, and continuously updating our behavioral models. Maritime trade is multi-faceted and often stakeholders don’t have all of the insights they need to fully assess the risks involved. Risk insights for containers of interest and BOL verification are essential for any entity that deals with global trade to understand the full picture of who they’re conducting business with. This new capability combined with our Company Risk and Vessel Insights provides our users with a one-stop shop for all maritime trade operations.” – Ami Daniel, CEO and Co-Founder of Windward.
Bottom Line: A solution for customers in the financial and insurance sectors to screen containers of interest as part of their due diligence processes.
