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Spotlight PEPPOL BIS Billing 3.0 The EU e-invoicing mandate is here — France Sept 2026, Belgium Jan 2026, Germany 2025.

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Foundations

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Standards

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Tools

X12 324 — Advance Ship Notice (Ocean)

The 324 is the ocean Advance Ship Notice: notification that a vessel has sailed from a port with a list of containers and bills of lading bound for a discharge port.

Purpose

The 324 documents the exact list of units loaded onto a vessel at sail: container numbers, related BLs, discharge ports, sizes, seals. It is issued by the ocean carrier to the destination terminals, customs (USA AMS, EU ENS), de-grouping agents, and shippers.

It pre-positions the ATB (Available To Be) information ahead of vessel arrival and triggers customs filings: US 24-Hour Rule (AMS), Importer Security Filing 10+2, Entry Summary Form 7501. Acknowledged by 997, it is in practice paired with the 350 (Customs Status Information) for clear / hold notification.

Envelope structure

The 324 travels within the three X12 envelope levels (ISA/IEA, GS/GE with functional group SO, and ST/SE). Didactic example in release 004010:

x12 example-324.x12 
ISA*00*          *00*          *ZZ*OCEANCARRIER  *ZZ*USTERMINAL    *260514*1500*U*00401*000000324*0*P*>~
GS*SO*OCEANCARRIER*USTERMINAL*20260514*1500*1*X*004010~
ST*324*0001~
SOI*00*ACME-EAST-005-MANIFEST*20260514~
V1*9876543*ACME EXPRESS*US*MSC*VOYAGE-EAST-005~
LX*1~
N7*MSCU*4501230*22G1~
M7*MSCU SEAL 887766~
N9*BM*BL-2026-EAST-998~
R4*L*UN*USNYC*NEW YORK*US~
R4*D*UN*BRRIO*RIO DE JANEIRO*BR~
LX*2~
N7*MSCU*7782314*42G1~
M7*MSCU SEAL 990011~
N9*BM*BL-2026-EAST-999~
R4*L*UN*USNYC*NEW YORK*US~
R4*D*UN*ARENA*BUENOS AIRES*AR~
SE*14*0001~
GE*1*1~
IEA*1*000000324~

Common segments

  • Header — ST, SOI (Beginning Segment for Advance Ship Notice / Ocean), V1 (Vessel).
  • Units — LX loop per container: N7 (Equipment Details), M7 (Seal Numbers), N9 (BL, House BL).
  • Routing — R4*L (Load port), R4*D (Discharge port), R4*T (Transshipment), UN/LOCODE mandatory.
  • Goods — H1 (Hazmat), LH1..LH11 for dangerous goods, H3 (Routing).
  • Summary — SE.

Common pitfalls

  • 24-Hour Rule (AMS): the 324 must reach US CBP 24 hours before loading at the foreign port; any delay flips the cargo to a US-bound hold and triggers penalties.
  • Confusion with 856: the 324 is ocean-specific (carrier ↔ terminal / customs); the 856 (ASN) is shipper ↔ consignee. Do not substitute.
  • BL / container mismatch: N9*BM must link every container to its BL; an orphan container (no BL) sends de-grouping into a manual queue.

Documentation

The code 324 and the name Advance Ship Notice (Ocean) are public and listed on x12.org/products/transaction-sets. The complete structure of loops, qualifiers and code lists is distributed by DISA via the proprietary Implementation Guides (TR3). ediverse.io covers only public concepts, the envelope and didactic examples.