What Is an EDI 315 (Status Details (Ocean))?

An EDI 315 is the X12 Status Details (Ocean), the electronic status report for ocean freight that says what has happened to selected shipments or containers.

X12's purpose statement sets out what it carries:

• What it reports: status or event details for selected shipments or containers.
• One event, many units: the details for one status or event associated with many shipments or containers.
• Many events, one unit: more than one status or event for one shipment or container.
• Where it sits: X12 lists the 315 among the transaction sets of its Transportation subcommittee (X12I), with its other ocean sets.

Ocean carrier MSC (Mediterranean Shipping Company) publishes its own 315 implementation guide. Its segment list includes:

• B4 Beginning Segment for Inquiry or Reply: identifying numbers, dates, and other basic data. MSC notes that B404 is the date of last reported status of cargo.
• N9 Reference Identification: identifying information as specified by the reference identification qualifier.
• Q2 Status Details (Ocean): identification of vessel, transportation dates, lading quantity, weight, and cube.
• R4 Port or Terminal: the contractual or operational port or point relevant to the movement of the cargo. MSC says R4 is required for each port to be identified.
• DTM Date/Time Reference: to specify pertinent dates and times.

That is one carrier's implementation, so check each trading partner's own guide.

Both report status, and both belong to X12's Transportation subcommittee:

• 214 Transportation Carrier Shipment Status Message: used by a transportation carrier to provide shippers, consignees, and their agents with the status of shipments in terms of dates, times, locations, route, identifying numbers, and conveyance.
• 315 Status Details (Ocean): X12's ocean set for status or event details on selected shipments or containers.

Other X12 ocean sets do other jobs. The 313 Shipment Status Inquiry (Ocean) lets an authorized party to an ocean shipment inquire of the ocean carrier as to the status of a shipment. The 310 Freight Receipt and Invoice (Ocean) provides ocean bill of lading information and is sent by ocean carriers to interested parties.

An importer has 4 containers on one booking, and in this example each container passes through 6 events on its voyage, so 4 x 6 = 24 container events in all.

X12 allows two ways to report them. A 315 can carry one event for all 4 containers, so 6 messages cover the voyage. Or a 315 can carry several events for one container, so 4 messages cover it. Both add up to the same 24 container events.

If the containers carry stock that a Shopify merchant tracks as an inventory transfer into a Shopify location, an integration can keep that transfer's shipment up to date through the GraphQL Admin API:

• The transfer: an InventoryTransfer tracks the movement of inventory items between locations, with origin and destination information, line items with quantities, and shipment details.
• Shipment status: an inventory shipment's status values include IN_TRANSIT, the inventory shipment is currently in transit, and RECEIVED, the inventory shipment has been completely received at the destination.
• Tracking: an inventory shipment's tracking holds arrivesAt, the estimated date and time that the shipment will arrive, plus the name of the shipping carrier company and the tracking number.
• Editing it: the inventoryShipmentSetTracking mutation edits the tracking info on an inventory shipment. It requires the write_inventory_shipments access scope and permission to manage inventory.

Uncap Connect is the real-time data layer between Shopify, your ERP, and the warehouse floor. Uncap says it also keeps multi-location inventory aligned, so a store can sell from any warehouse and show the same stock everywhere.

• EDI 214 (shipment status message)
• Bill of lading
• Freight forwarder
• Importer of record
• Customs broker
• Landed cost

• X12 Transaction Sets
• MSC: 315 Status Details (Ocean) implementation guide
• Shopify Dev Docs: InventoryShipment