what is the meaning Bill of Lading in maritime law and international law

Document issued by a shipowner to a shipper of goods. It serves three purposes:
a receipt for the goods, evidence of the contract of carriage and document
of title. It contains full details of the cargo (see below).
Depending on the particular requirements of cargo interests, a number
of originals – often three – and a number of non- negotiable copies are
issued. One original bill of lading is surrendered to the carrying ship
at the discharge port or destination in exchange for the goods. Such a
bill of lading is then said to be accomplished. Once this is done, any
other original bills become non- negotiable. The copy bills of lading
are retained for reference by various parties including the shipper and
consignee.
Generally, all the information relating to the cargo, the origin and destination
and the name of ship is contained in boxes on one side of the document.
The contents on the reverse of the document depend on the nature of the
contract itself.
Typical boxes are:
• Shipper: the person despatching the goods.
• Consignee: party designated to take delivery of the goods. This party could
be the receiver of the goods or an agent.
• Notify party: person who should be notified by the shipping line of the
arrival of the goods. This could be a customs broker or a sales agent for the
exporter.

• Place of receipt: inland place where the goods are placed in the care of the
shipping line.
• Vessel: the name of the carrying ocean vessel.
• Port of loading.
• Port of discharge.
• Place of delivery: inland place where the shipping line is contracted to
deliver the goods.
• Marks and numbers.
• Number and kind of packages.
• Description of the goods.
• Gross weight.
• Measurement: total number of cubic metres for each item.
• Freight details and charges: this may be left off at the request of the shipper
and with the agreement of the shipping line. This is done when the shipper
does not want the receiver to know the amount of freight paid.
• Freight payable at: the place where freight is to be paid is shown, which will
show whether freight is prepaid or payable at destination.
• Place and date of issue.
• Signature: the bill of lading is signed and dated, normally by the master or
his agent. If signed by the agent, often the words as agent only will accompany
the signature, indicating that the person signing does so as agent and
not principal and has no rights or liabilities under the contract of carriage.
Bills of lading arise from both liner and charter shipments.
Charter- party bills of lading, waybills and cargo receipts
A variety of documents arise from the chartering of a ship, commencing with
the document containing the contract itself, the charter- party. The type
of charter- party and its content depend on whether it is a time charter or
voyage charter and the type of commodity to be carried (see Chartering and
Charter- party).
A charter- party bill of lading is issued by the shipowner for a shipment
of cargo on a chartered ship when it is intended that the bill of lading be
passed to the receiver and that the receiver be bound by the terms and conditions
of the charter- party. A clause to this effect incorporating the date and
place of signature of the charter- party appears on the bill of lading.
Occasionally the charterer or his agent will want to issue a bill of lading,
particularly when he acts as carrier. Such a document is called a charterer’s
bill of lading.
A variety of waybills and cargo receipts exist for situations where only
one function of the bill of lading, that of receipt for the cargo on board the
vessel, is required. Unlike a bill of lading, the waybill and cargo receipt are not
documents of title – they contain a clause specifying that delivery will be made
by the carrier to the party named in the document. Again, unlike a bill of
lading, which is evidence of a contract of carriage, charter- party waybills and

cargo receipts contain a clause or box identifying the charter- party governing
the contract of carriage. BIMCO (the Baltic and International Maritime
Council) publishes several waybills and receipts for different purposes:
• a Non- negotiable Tanker Waybill, codenamed Tankwaybill 81;
• a Non- negotiable Chemical Tanker Waybill, codenamed Chemtankwaybill
85;
• a Non- negotiable Gas Tank Waybill for use in the LPG Trade, codenamed
Gastankwaybill;
• a Non- negotiable Cargo Receipt for heavy lifts, codenamed
Heavyconreceipt; and
• a Non- negotiable Cargo Receipt for food shipped by the World Food
Programme in Rome, codenamed Worldfoodreceipt.
Liner bills of lading
In the case of liner shipments, the reverse of the bill contains all the terms
and conditions of carriage, including any reference to statutory terms. Some
shipping lines issue short form bills of lading which do not contain their
terms and conditions but which contain a reference to the carrier’s conditions,
normally stating that a copy is available on request. A common short form
bill of lading is a short form bill which may be used by any shipping line
since neither the name of the line nor any conditions are printed on it; it too
contains a reference to the carrier’s conditions.
Liner bills of lading are normally issued by the ship’s agent at the load port.
In the past, the shipper or his forwarding agent would have a stock of bills
for each shipping line used and would prepare the bill of lading for the line’s
agent to sign. Nowadays, the necessary computer software may be individual
to the particular line and the bills of lading are printed out from data fed into
a computer by the line’s agent. Some larger forwarders may have access to
the software and these companies continue to prepare the bills of lading for
signature. Where the line’s agent does the work, there may be a charge to the
shipper called a bill of lading charge.
A combined transport bill of lading or combined transport document
has all the functions of a liner bill but also reflects the fact that the
contract of carriage involves at least two legs.
A through bill of lading is issued by a shipping line for a voyage requiring
on- carriage, thus involving at least one transhipment.
A groupage bill of lading is issued to a forwarder by a shipping line and
covers consignments from various shippers for the same destination which
have been consolidated into one consignment by the forwarding agent. Each
shipper receives a house bill of lading from the forwarding agent.
An example of a liner bill of lading is the Conlinebill, published by BIMCO
(the Baltic and International Maritime Council). BIMCO also publishes a
blank back liner bill of lading. The contract for goods carried under this
bill of lading is subject to the carrier’s standard conditions of carriage, or,

if the carrier does not have standard conditions, subject to the Conlinebill
conditions.
Bill of lading as document of title
One of the three functions of the bill of lading is that of document of title. In
this capacity, it may be passed by the shipper to a third party, most often the
buyer of the goods or the buyer’s agent. This third party, once in possession
of the bill of lading, is known as the bearer of the bill of lading.
He presents it to the ship at the place of delivery in the contract of carriage
and may thus take delivery of the goods.
Depending on the particular requirements of cargo interests, a number of
originals – often three – and a number of copies, which are non- negotiable,
are issued. The originals might be sent by separate methods to maximise the
chance of at least one arriving safely. Only one original bill of lading need be
surrendered to the carrying ship at the discharge port or destination to take
delivery of the goods. Such a bill of lading is then said to be accomplished.
Once this is done, any other original bills become non- negotiable.
Copy bills of lading are used for administrative purposes only and are said
to be non- negotiable bills of lading.
By virtue of the fact that an original bill of lading represents title to the
goods, it is used by banks as collateral security. When a bank is involved, the
bill is first sent to the bank and held by them until payment for the goods has
been received. It then passes to the receiver so that it can be exchanged for
the goods.
Bills of lading may be made out to a named third party, most commonly
the buyer of the goods named in the bill. Alternatively, they may be made out
to bearer, especially when the goods are expected to be sold, perhaps more
than once, while they are on the high seas. When the goods change hands in
this way, the bill of lading is endorsed by one party to another, that is, it is
signed over.
A bill of lading may be made out to order; if made out to the consignee
or order, the consignee may endorse it over to whomever he pleases. If it is
simply made out to order, it is up to the shipper to endorse it to another party
who then becomes entitled to the goods.
A blank endorsed bill of lading has been endorsed by the shipper with the
endorsement left blank, that is, not endorsed to a named person or company.
It can therefore be negotiated by the bearer, so is a type of bearer bill of lading.
On occasion, the original bill of lading does not arrive at the discharge port
in time for the vessel’s arrival. In this situation, the shipper may instruct the
master of the ship or the shipowner to release the goods to a named third
party without production of an original bill of lading. The master or owner,
if they agree to do this, may require a letter of indemnity from the shipper
absolving them from the costs and consequences of complying should it turn
out that the named party is not entitled to take delivery of the goods. It should
be noted that, as a rule, any such letter which seeks to indemnify against an

act which is intended to defraud an innocent third party is not enforceable in
a court of law.
Bill of lading as evidence of contract of carriage
One of the three functions of the bill of lading is to act as evidence of the
contract of carriage. It is not necessarily the contract itself which may be
verbal or may be made up of protracted correspondence, however, it is considered
best evidence of the contract. When the bill of lading is transferred
to a third party, it may become the contract. Many contracts are port to
port and are between the shipowner or shipping line and the shipper of the
cargo.
A through bill of lading is issued by a shipping line for a voyage requiring
on- carriage, thus involving at least one transhipment. According to the
particular contract, the issuer of the bill of lading may be responsible for the
goods throughout the voyage or only for one leg, acting as agent for the oncarriage.
Such a bill is often referred to simply as a through bill.
A combined transport bill of lading or combined transport document
is similar to a liner bill but also reflects the fact that the contract of
carriage involves at least two legs.
A groupage bill of lading is issued to a forwarder by a shipping line and
covers consignments from various shippers for the same destination which
have been consolidated into one consignment by the forwarding agent. Each
shipper receives a house bill of lading from the forwarding agent who acts
as carrier. There are consequently two contracts of carriage in respect of the
same goods.
Some shipping lines issue short form bills of lading which do not contain
their terms and conditions but which contain a reference to the carrier’s conditions,
normally stating that a copy is available on request. A common short
form bill of lading is a short form bill which may be used by any shipping
line since neither the name of the line nor any conditions are printed on it; it
too contains a reference to the carrier’s conditions.
A charter- party bill of lading may be issued for a shipment of cargo on a
chartered ship when it is intended that the receiver be bound by the terms and
conditions of the charter- party. A clause to this effect incorporating the place
and date of the charter- party appears on the face of the bill.
A charterer’s bill of lading is a bill of lading issued by a charterer and
signed by him or his agent. Under certain circumstances, the charterer who
signs his own bills of lading may be deemed to be the carrier, thus taking on
all the responsibilities of a carrier.
Bill of lading as document of title
One of the three functions of the bill of lading is that of document of title. In
this capacity, it may be passed by the shipper to a third party, most often the
buyer of the goods or the buyer’s agent. This third party, once in possession
of the bill of lading, is known as the bearer of the bill of lading.

He presents it to the ship at the place of delivery in the contract of carriage
and may thus take delivery of the goods.
Depending on the particular requirements of cargo interests, a number
of originals, often three, and a number of copies, which are non- negotiable,
are issued. The originals might be sent by separate methods to maximise the
chance of at least one arriving safely. Only one original bill of lading need be
surrendered to the carrying ship at the discharge port or destination to take
delivery of the goods. Such a bill of lading is then said to be accomplished.
Once this is done, any other original bills become non- negotiable.
Copy bills of lading are used for administrative purposes only and are said
to be non- negotiable bills of lading.
By virtue of the fact that an original bill of lading represents title to the
goods, it is used by banks as collateral security. When a bank is involved, the
bill is first sent to the bank and held by them until payment for the goods has
been received. It then passes to the receiver so that it can be exchanged for
the goods.
Bills of lading may be made out to a named third party, most commonly
the buyer of the goods named in the bill. Alternatively, they may be made out
to bearer, especially when the goods are expected to be sold, perhaps more
than once, while they are on the high seas. When the goods change hands in
this way, the bill of lading is endorsed by one party to another, that is, it is
signed over.
A bill of lading may be made out to order; if made out to the consignee
or order, the consignee may endorse it over to whomever he pleases. If it is
simply made out to order, it is up to the shipper to endorse it to another party
who then becomes entitled to the goods.
On occasion, the original bill of lading does not arrive at the discharge port
in time for the vessel’s arrival. In this situation, the shipper may instruct the
master of the ship or the shipowner to release the goods to a named third
party without production of an original bill of lading. The master or owner,
if they agree to do this, may require a letter of indemnity from the shipper
absolving them from the costs and consequences of complying should it turn
out that the named party is not entitled to take delivery of the goods. It should
be noted that, as a rule, any such letter which seeks to indemnify against an
act which is intended to defraud an innocent third party is not enforceable in
a court of law.
Bill of lading as receipt
In its role as receipt, a bill of lading is commonly issued when the goods have
been loaded on board the carrying vessel. Such a bill of lading is known as a
shipped bill of lading or shipped on board bill of lading. This type of bill
is often a requirement of banks who advance money using the bill of lading
as collateral security and who may wish to be satisfied that the goods are on
board the ship. Accordingly, it has a clause on the face to this effect. Note that
generally, banks require such bills to be clean (see below).

Alternatively, the bill may be issued when the goods have been received
into the care of the carrier, but not yet loaded on board. Such a bill is
termed a received for shipment bill of lading. It serves all the purposes
of a shipped bill of lading but may not be acceptable to banks as collateral
security.
As a receipt, the bill of lading contains the description and quantity of the
goods. Should goods be packed in cases, crates or bundles or otherwise not be
visible by virtue of their packaging, the master or carrier may be unaware of
the nature or quantity of the contents and may therefore rely on the definition
furnished by the shipper. In these circumstances, the term said to contain
may precede the description or quantity on the bill of lading.
Should the master, first officer or protection and indemnity club surveyor
find that the goods, when received into the care of the ship, are in apparent
good order and condition, the bill is known as clean. If any defect is found
to the cargo or its packing, termed an exception, a notation will be made on
the bill of lading by means of a superimposed clause or clauses. Such a bill
is known as dirty, foul or unclean. A claused bill of lading also contains
superimposed clauses which may relate to defects or may be any comment of
the master regarding the carriage of goods, for example that they are unprotected
or shipped on deck at shipper’s risk. Sometimes claused bills are used
synonymously with unclean bills.