Difference between Received for Shipment, Shipped on board and Clean on board

Difference between Received for Shipment, Shipped on Board, Clean on Board & Clean Shipped on Board

These are 4 terms that some people are not clear about, with regards to the various types of endorsements on the bill of lading..

Received for Shipment
Shipped on Board
Clean on Board
Clean Shipped on Board

Bill of lading endorsed with Received for shipment : confirms that the carrier has “received” the containers at the port facility for loading onto a specific ship or voyage.. This DOES NOT mean that the container(s) has been shipped on board..

Bill of lading endorsed with Shipped on board : confirms that the carrier has received and loaded the containers physically on board the specified ship or voyage.. This is DEFINITE proof that the container(s) have been loaded..

Bill of lading endorsed with Clean on board : is a bill of lading that is predominantly used for non-containerised cargoes that are loaded on the break-bulk or multi-purpose vessels.. This confirms that the cargo has been received by the carrier in GOOD ORDER AND CONDITION..

By certifying this however, the shipowner, carrier and/or master can be liable for any damages that the consignee might notice to the cargo upon discharge and as such is a dangerous clause as far as a carrier is concerned..

In containerised shipping this clause is not accepted or granted by any shipping line UNLESS UNDER VERY RARE circumstances as in the case of FCL containers, the carrier is NOT aware of what has been packed in the container and in what condition..

It is important that the Implications of issuing a Clean on Board bill of lading are fully understood..

Bill of lading endorsed with Clean Shipped on board : (or Shipped Clean on Board) is basically the same as a Clean on board bill of lading, just a fancier term shown on an L/C..

Maybe some of the readers who have had some interesting experiences or issues with these 3 clauses can share their experiences..

32 COMMENTS

Amit Rane October 29, 2020 At 11:12 AM

Can we issue Seaway BL for Received for Shipment?

Ajit May 17, 2020 At 8:26 AM

Hi Manaadiar,

Ref to above msg, can you advise if we can issue RFS SURRENDER/TELEX Message.

Dave May 10, 2020 At 6:44 PM

I recently made a purchase from China, and the FedEx tracking system informed me ‘Information received’ and when I checked details, it suggested the weight of my shipment as 10 lbs, however what I ordered is 53 lbs? I contacted the vendor and he said the weight is never accurate?
In addition, I ordered this on April 25th and it was shipped on the 30th and still I have no further updates from tracking. All it says is ‘Information received’. I am in California and the shipment suggests ‘From Las Vegas to (My City) Califorbnia? I just checked tracking again and there has been no activity. Can you help?

Jassit August 7, 2019 At 8:24 AM

Is there any risk on issuing RFS BL?

ashish December 1, 2018 At 7:29 AM

CAN RFS BL CAN BE SURRENDER ONCE ISSUED ?

- Hariesh Manaadiar December 1, 2018 At 11:20 AM
  
  Yes it can be surrendered..
- Said Fahim Wahisi August 30, 2021 At 7:34 PM
  
  “Is it common or at least not uncommon in a multimodal freight contract (i.e. for transport with different means of transport, truck / ship freight,
  
  that the bill of lading (the Bill of Lading) for sea freight transport is already issued and with a” clean ob board “- A note is made as soon as the
  
  carrier and issuer of the Bill of Lading has received irrevocable power of disposal over the goods, before the goods have not yet been loaded
  
  onto the ship? “
ANITA April 6, 2018 At 3:43 PM

Can RFS BL (Received For Shipment) use for cargo clearance at the final destination.

Santy January 19, 2018 At 7:29 AM

… Would like to know , can we issue RFS bills of lading on non working day.
in brief – if unit gated in on Sunday and customer is insisting that RFS date
should be same day i.e Sunday.. Can we ?

- Hariesh Manaadiar January 19, 2018 At 7:52 AM
  
  Hi Santy, RFS or SOB can be issued irrespective of any weekday as far as the conditions for these releases are met.. i.e. for RFS the container should have been handed over to the carrier and carrier should have proof of such handover and for SOB the container should have been physically shipped on board and carrier should have proof of this..
- Santy April 19, 2018 At 11:08 AM
  
  one quick query… one of our customer requested RFS bills of lading for their 7×20′ containers, but the problem is 6×20′ were already loaded and 1×20′ container gated in after rest of the units loaded and customer is requesting RFS bills of lading on last unit gated in date.
  
  will it be okay to proceed ?
- Harif December 18, 2019 At 10:54 AM
  
  at Santy, how did you resolved this? as I have the same situation now.
  
  3*40Hq loaded yesterday, 2*40hq will be loaded tomorrow, customer needs the RFS BL dated after all the loading is completed.
David murphy January 5, 2018 At 9:45 PM

So my runners has been shipped do u known how long it will take two come thank you

Ritu July 27, 2017 At 1:51 PM

Can we as a forwarder release RFS BL for an LCL shipment without mention of container number and seal details? Is it correct to release such BL without these details?

- Hariesh Manaadiar July 27, 2017 At 9:07 PM
  
  Hi Ritu, in an LCL case, this does happen sometimes based on the type of bill of lading required and the type of sale between seller and buyer.. If for example it is an FCA shipment, then this maybe normal and once the container has been packed, the customer can query the container number from the forwarder/entity that is issuing the HBL..
Patricia Alvarez Vieites June 6, 2017 At 4:44 PM

And what happens when the master makes a statement like “package weak” without any proof but just to cover himself in case of damaged packing and spilled cargo in the voyage? Can this BL be disputed and not accepted? Can we request the shipowner/broker to amend the BL?

kunal kapoor May 17, 2017 At 4:39 PM

Container received by carrier and earliest empty pickup date meaning ?

Htet Ko Zin January 20, 2017 At 11:10 AM

Thanks a lot, sir!

santy January 3, 2017 At 4:04 PM

Need your expert advice, can received for shipment BL issue after shipped on board, per customer request ???

- Hariesh Manaadiar January 5, 2017 At 5:29 PM
  
  It can be, but not at the same time of course.. The bill usually doesn’t have Received for Shipment and Shipped on Board..
Mohamed October 21, 2016 At 11:58 AM

Dear sir if the BL doesn’t contain any mention of the stated above, does it consider as Shipped On Board ?

- Hariesh Manaadiar October 21, 2016 At 6:13 PM
  
  Good question Mohamed.. If the line issues a bill of lading without any of these notations then they are leaving it open to interpretation for any claims etc.. So the shipping lines don’t issue without any of the above notations..
Hitakar Amin January 28, 2015 At 9:10 AM

DOES SHIPPED ON BOARD MEANS VESSEL HAS SAILED ALONG WITH THE CONTAINERS OR IT MEANS THE SHIPMENT HAS BEEN LOADED ON BOARD BUT VESSEL STILL NOT SAILED?

- Hariesh Manaadiar January 28, 2015 At 9:33 AM
  
  Hi Hitakar, this article https://www.shippingandfreightresource.com/difference-laden-board-shipped-board/ will answer your question..
Rojan December 28, 2013 At 5:24 PM

Thank you so much…..

syed fayaz ahmed October 6, 2013 At 9:53 PM

good answers

Asim Adam August 20, 2013 At 3:31 PM

Well noted abvove information

Née May 23, 2013 At 3:21 PM

Fully understand

nazimziane February 7, 2013 At 1:28 PM

thnks a lot

nazim February 7, 2013 At 1:28 PM

thnks

Captain Jool February 7, 2013 At 8:57 AM

Many thanks

Amna February 6, 2013 At 4:22 PM

THANK U FOR SWEET INFO.ABOUT B/L