What is a Bill of Lading..?? A look into its roles and types..

Bill of Lading (abbreviated to B/L) is one of the MOST important documents in the whole shipping and freight chain..

Although I have written several articles under the category of bill of lading, I thought it would be a good idea to dedicate an (rather lengthy) entire post to this document, so here goes..

A B/L has 3 basic purposes or roles..

Evidence of Contract of Carriage
Receipt of Goods and
Document of Title to the goods

Let’s examine these roles in more detail..

1) Evidence of Contract of Carriage – emphasis on the term “Evidence“..

Many people think that

a B/L is a Contract between the Seller and the Buyer
a B/L is a Contract of Carriage between the Carrier and Shipper

Both notions are wrong..

The contract between a buyer and seller was already established when the buyer placed the order with the seller and they both discussed and agreed (verbally or in writing) the what, where, when, how and how much of the transaction in detail..

The contract between a shipper and the carrier was already established when the shipper or his agent made a booking with the carrier (shipping line) to carry the cargo from A to B..

The B/L is the EVIDENCE of the contract of carriage entered into between the “Carrier” and the “Shipper or Cargo Owner” in order to carry out the transportation of the cargo as per the sales contract between the buyer and the seller..

2) Receipt of Goods – emphasis on the term “Receipt“..

A B/L is issued by the carrier or their agent to the shipper or their agent in exchange for the receipt of the cargo.. The issuance of the B/L is proof that the carrier has received the goods from the shipper or their agent in apparent good order and condition, as handed over by the shipper..

3) Document of Title to the goods – emphasis on the term “Title“..

It means that the goods may be transferred to the holder of the B/L which then gives the holder of the B/L, the rights to claim the goods or further transfer it to someone else..

Based on the above roles, there are several variations of the B/L (let’s call it Types), important among which are as below..

1) When a B/L is issued in Original(s) to a “named” consignee it is referred to as a “Straight B/L” and a straight B/L is a NON-NEGOTIABLE & NON-TRANSFERABLE DOCUMENT..

Release of cargo at destination may be issued ONLY to the named consignee and ONLY upon surrender of at least 1 of the original bills issued..

This bill of lading satisfies roles 1 & 2 above fully and does not satisfy role 3 (Document of Title) as the document is not negotiable or transferable..

2) When a B/L is issued to a “named” consignee but without any originals it maybe considered as a “Sea Waybill“.. This B/L is also a NON-NEGOTIABLE & NON-TRANSFERABLE DOCUMENT..

A Sea Waybill is usually issued

for inter company shipments like from ACME Company Hollywood to ACME Company in the Middle of the Australian Outback or
where the shipment takes place between two different companies but there are no negotiations required between the two either directly or via bank for release of the cargo and
the shipper doesn’t need to submit an original B/L to anyone to secure his payment

Since no originals are issued in the case of a Sea Waybill no surrender is required and the release may also be termed as an Express Release and is mentioned as such on the body of the B/L and manifest..

This bill of lading satisfies roles 1 & 2 above and does not satisfy role 3 (Document of Title) as the document is not negotiable or transferable..

3) When a B/L issued in Original(s) and consigned “TO ORDER” or “TO ORDER OF SHIPPER” or “TO ORDER OF XYZ BANK” it is termed as “Negotiable B/L or Order Bill“..

One of the most important aspects of a B/L is that it can be used as a negotiable instrument for payments between a buyer and seller using Letter of Credits.. You can read how a Letter of Credit works here..

A negotiable B/L must be treated like gold and due care must be taken not to lose it.. There are several cumbersome procedures to be followed if an original B/L is lost..

Another notable feature of this type of B/L is that it contains the Terms and Conditions of the Carrier on the 1st Page of the B/L.. The 1st page is what we all commonly refer to as the “back of the B/L”.. Sea Waybills issued by some carriers do not have these Terms and Conditions on the back (also known as “blank back short form B/L“)..

Destination port agent may issue release of cargo only after at least 1 of the issued originals are surrendered and after checking the endorsements on the back of the B/L as it is possible for this type of B/L to be endorsed or transferred to another company..

This bill of lading satisfies all of the above 3 roles.. Read the permutation and combination regarding the consignee in one of my previous articles..

There are also various ways in which the B/L is termed or titled, the purpose of which is to identify the carriers responsibility in terms of the carriage..

Below are some of the ways in which a B/L is termed or titled..

1) Port to Port B/L – When a B/L is issued as a Port to Port B/L (also known as Ocean B/L), the carrier’s responsibility begins at the port of loading and ends at the port of discharge and therefore the Place of Origin/Receipt or Place of Destination/Delivery should not be mentioned in the B/L.. Read – Parts of a B/L – Part 2..

2) Combined Transport B/L – When a B/L is issued as a Combined Transport B/L, it involves multiple modes of transport from the Place of Receipt to Place of Delivery and all these movements are carried out as a single contract by multiple service providers under the employ of the carrier..

Carrier takes responsibility for any loss or damage for the entire transport including the sea and other mode of transport..

When a B/L is released as a Combined transport B/L, the boxes like “Pre-Carriage by”, “Place of receipt by pre-carrier”, “Place of delivery by on-carrier”, “On-Carriage by” etc will be filed in..

Read – Intermodal vs Multimodal – what is the difference..??

3) Multimodal Transport B/L – Same as Combined Transport B/L..

4) Through B/L – Similar to Combined Transport B/L except that in the case of the Through B/L, the carrier is directly responsible only for the sea leg and for the inland movement they act as an agent in arranging the inland movement..

The terms on the Through B/L issued by the carrier will specifically state this, in such a B/L..

When a B/L is released as a Through B/L, the boxes like “Pre-Carriage by”, “Place of receipt by pre-carrier”, “Place of delivery by on-carrier”, “On-Carriage by” etc will be filed in..

Another misconception that most people have is terming a bill as Telex Release B/L.. There is no such term.. Read more about what a Telex Release is by clicking this link..

Do you know of any other document as versatile and varied like a B/L..!!

Hello Alex,
please advise me about the problem,is it right?I must pay?
I ordered goods and paid 50% according to the invoice proforma. I received an email from a transport company with a tracking number of goods. Then the supplier asked me the remaining 30% to send B.L. or shipping documents according to the invoice proforma, and i paid but he didn’t send. After a week i received another email from transport company that “according to the marine Aviation policy of Europe, any transshipment fees and port to port entry permit fees, and/or all destination charges if applicable are to be paid by the consignee.” Since you bought all your goods on CIF and also some fees which you need to pay which will be refunded back to you on delivery .These charges are fees to be paid upon approval of entry of goods into the port authorities of transshipment / destination port terminal. Upon this payment, D/O (delivery order) and A/O (arrival order) will be organized from our side and also all documents for clearance of goods at port of delivery will be sent to the agent at the port ready for clearance . So we require this payment at the earliest to get departure confirmation and delivery order issued immediately.
The charges are based on cargo content and value of each Container and are calculated as below:
Custom duty,Taxes and VAT (VAT can be reclaimed if you are a registered VAT trader), Fee of entry filing, Destination terminal handling charges and fees, Customs Export Charges.
You are requested to pay a total of …. $ and payment must be made as soon as you receive this notification so that the goods can be delivered on the Estimated Time of Delivery. We have spoken with your authorities and we need to pay this charges before they give us the C/O and D/O as well as originals that we need . Once this payment is made we will proceed. As soon as payment is made we will send you all documents and list of clearance so that you can start waiting to clear up your goods when they arrive the sea port . We will also send original documents to the agent who will do the clearance. I received an email from the supplier that, after you pay we submit the documents.

63 COMMENTS

Lakhvir Singh January 21, 2021 At 11:44 AM

WE WANT RELEASE THE HOUSE BILL OF MY PVT LTD COMPANY, SO ADVISE US FORMALITIES AND EXPENSES.

Nikolay Karpachev December 7, 2019 At 8:05 AM

Hello
I have the following problem:
We are a Bulgarian company and we purchased the goods from Benin (Africa), which departed from the port of Lomé (Togo). The goods are 100% paid by us, but the sender does not send us the bill of lading because he wants to pay him extra large sums without any justification. We have an original contract signed and sealed on both sides, pro forma invoices for advance payments issued by the seller and original documents from our bank proving the payment of the goods. Currently, the container of our goods is traveling and is expected to arrive at the port of destination in about 10 days. We contacted the transport company Maersk, which is a carrier, and they informed us that the invoices for transport were not paid by the shipper and no bill of lading was issued. Please advise what we can do to receive the bill of lading for our goods. The seller threatens us that if we do not pay the amount requested, he will sell the goods to another buyer. As anyone can see, this is blackmail.

- Hariesh Manaadiar December 7, 2019 At 3:09 PM
  
  Hello Nikolay, this is one of many cases that happens around the world.. In this case unfortunately the shipping line does not have the right or authority to just hand over the goods to anyone as the bill of lading is the only document that they are supposed to release on.. Also as the booking would have been done by the shipper, the shipping line’s obligation is to them and not to you.. Best option would be for you to reason with the seller in this case and see how it can be amicably sorted.. Or if you have all the proof as you mentioned above then you can proceed legally..
Nihal Gamwara August 6, 2019 At 8:41 AM

Hi Good Day
Can a shipping line hold a original bls stating that Forwarder did not pay the demurrage charges pertaining to a another shipment ?
thank you
Nihal

NAIPAUL BRIJMOHAN July 15, 2019 At 3:40 PM

Hello Hariesh
I have a question . My shipper is based in South Africa , who sold his consigment to a buyer in UK . The UK buyer now requires we insert him as shipper on all documents – Bills of Lading , and export these goods to the Netherlands.
Can this be done .
hope this make sense .

- Hariesh Manaadiar July 16, 2019 At 7:55 AM
  
  High seas sale happens all the time and many shippers who are traders do this.. Whether it is possible or not depends on the type of bill of lading issued, at what stage the shipment is at that point, whether SA shipper wants the cargo to be landed in UK and then exported or just rerouted from UK to Netherlands etc..
Augustine April 11, 2019 At 4:07 PM

Thanks very much for most of this articles it some time draw up my attention back to my studies in shipping.I can said all of the articles you released are match with most of my studies and i am really enjoying all of the articles.
Augustine

Ashish Shah February 11, 2019 At 11:01 AM

Dear Sir:

Not only your articles, but, also your post article QAs has compelled me to appreciate your good work. Going through this article in particular and related QAs I could get deep insight on LC and its working too. The thought of Discrepancies while working with LC used to scare me like any thing. BUT this article about BL vis-à-vis LC has made my views and understanding absolutely clear.

I hope that someday I will get an opportunity to reciprocate to you for your extremely good work, very kind gesture, and to the service you are extending to mankind…

I will pray to god to have a Kind & Large heart like that of yours…

With tons & tons of warm regards,

Ashish Shah

- Hariesh Manaadiar February 11, 2019 At 1:31 PM
  
  Wow, thanks for those encouraging words Ashish.. Much appreciated.. 🙂
greg martin November 5, 2018 At 2:15 AM

Surprised no-one has commented on this or answered question.
The original bill of lading is title to the goods. Whoever possesses the original bill can exchange it for the cargo and the carrier will release cargo to them. When issued as a set of three, they will be endorsed “one is accomplished and others are void” or words to that effect. That means all three have equal weight but once any of them is used to claim cargo others are void. First in wins!
In the days before time began one original would be sent to the consignee or to the bank by whatever means was available – Be it camel train, boat or air or post. To reduce possibility of loss of this prime document, the second original was sent a few days later on the assumption it would be on a different ship/plane/camel. Reduce the risk.The third original was held by the shipper in the unlikely event that all the camels died and all the planes crashed. Things have moved on from then but some parties to a contract of sale are wary of dealing with new or unknown buyers or sellers and are wise to take precautions to ensure their goods can be claimed at destination. Some countries such as Bangladesh still have archaic regulations and modern methods are not accepted. eg FOB shipments are not allowed and alltransactions must use original docs and go thru a bank.

- Hariesh Manaadiar November 5, 2018 At 8:30 AM
  
  Hi Greg, thanks for your feedback and comments.. Just a small correction.. Bill of lading is NOT the title to the goods.. It is a document of title to the goods.. Both are different.. There will be an article about this shortly..
mk February 17, 2018 At 4:30 PM

Why bill of lading is issued as 3 number of originals? what is the purpose?

mk February 17, 2018 At 12:43 PM

Dear Hariesh,
You are doing a great selfless job of explaining the shipping matters to others.

Thank you very very much

Sudhakar C.S. December 11, 2017 At 8:11 PM

Hi, How do I issue Bill of Lading, legally?

Reza August 13, 2017 At 10:01 AM

Hello Alex,
please advise me about the problem,is it right?I must pay?
I ordered goods and paid 50% according to the invoice proforma. I received an email from a transport company with a tracking number of goods. Then the supplier asked me the remaining 30% to send B.L. or shipping documents according to the invoice proforma, and i paid but he didn’t send. After a week i received another email from transport company that “according to the marine Aviation policy of Europe, any transshipment fees and port to port entry permit fees, and/or all destination charges if applicable are to be paid by the consignee.” Since you bought all your goods on CIF and also some fees which you need to pay which will be refunded back to you on delivery .These charges are fees to be paid upon approval of entry of goods into the port authorities of transshipment / destination port terminal. Upon this payment, D/O (delivery order) and A/O (arrival order) will be organized from our side and also all documents for clearance of goods at port of delivery will be sent to the agent at the port ready for clearance . So we require this payment at the earliest to get departure confirmation and delivery order issued immediately.
The charges are based on cargo content and value of each Container and are calculated as below:
Custom duty,Taxes and VAT (VAT can be reclaimed if you are a registered VAT trader), Fee of entry filing, Destination terminal handling charges and fees, Customs Export Charges.
You are requested to pay a total of …. $ and payment must be made as soon as you receive this notification so that the goods can be delivered on the Estimated Time of Delivery. We have spoken with your authorities and we need to pay this charges before they give us the C/O and D/O as well as originals that we need . Once this payment is made we will proceed. As soon as payment is made we will send you all documents and list of clearance so that you can start waiting to clear up your goods when they arrive the sea port . We will also send original documents to the agent who will do the clearance. I received an email from the supplier that, after you pay we submit the documents.

Elisabeth Guerin July 11, 2017 At 12:28 AM

Hello Alex!
I have just read your message. Did you find a solution already? Did the seller ship finally the good or return back to you your money? I would like to help if you want. I’ll need more details. You can send me an amail at : guerinsandra5@gmail.com

Yohan May 3, 2017 At 8:52 AM

The seller (Inter company) accidentally instructed – Original BL required to clear instead of Sea Waybill. Now the shipping line is not releasing the goods as Original BL not presented plus there are some unpaid origin charges. Is there anyway out of this mess so that we can collect the goods ?

- Hariesh Manaadiar May 3, 2017 At 10:31 AM
  
  Yohan, when you say “instructed”, how did they “instruct”..?? Was there an OBL issued..?? If so then only way is for it to be surrendered at POL or POD for release..
alex April 12, 2017 At 12:38 PM

hello and please help
I ordered goods and paid 40% according to the invoice proforma.
after 2 weeks supplier asked me the remaining 60% and i payed, without any B.L. or shipping documents.
Now i call the provider and does not respond.
I received an email from a transport company with a tracking number of goods and say they can not make transport to me because the supplier did not pay VAT and shipping charges.
I mention that I paid the difference of 60% without any B.L. or shipping charges.
Please HELP…

- Hariesh Manaadiar April 12, 2017 At 1:53 PM
  
  Hello Alex, unfortunately I can only sympathise with you on this one.. There are many unscrupulous agents like this who have taken many clients like you for a ride.. If the amount is big I would recommend you contact a maritime lawyer to find a recourse..
Michael March 30, 2017 At 4:16 AM

Greetings Hariesh,
My query is in relation to the details of the Port of Discharge and the Place of Delivery. If the details are generals e.g. the name of the City (same name of Port). Does the carrier’s agent at the Port of discharge have the right to move the cargo into its private warehouse to await delivery or does the contract or carriage only stop at the Port of Discharge.

Dan February 9, 2017 At 12:47 AM

Question regarding CPU. Manufacturer is ‘delivering’ goods to customer at the manufacturers dock FOB Origin. Goods are loaded onto customers transport (either customer truck or independent hauler representing end customer). Manifest / Packing List is generated regarding goods loaded on transport. Customer / Customer Representative signs in acceptance of delivery of goods, legal ownership is transferred at that point. Who is responsible for BOL document?
If the Manufacturer does provide a BOL (customer courtesy, if you will) what, if any, risks does that imply for the Manufacturer.

muditha kuluppuaratchchi January 31, 2017 At 2:38 PM

very good !

valli January 2, 2017 At 1:15 PM

Hi,

Please advice whether the originals should be printed over the liner stationary paper or is there any practice that they print in normal A4 sheet and put a stamp on that.

- hassan January 25, 2017 At 3:54 PM
  
  Hi Vali
  
  the paper used for line b/l like money paper . has serial number AND also you can identify if b/l paper is Fraudulent ort not
  
  THanks
  
  Hassan
XERMON November 22, 2016 At 6:02 AM

HOW TO MAKE A BL?

andy November 10, 2016 At 6:08 PM

Hi Hariesh, very good work! One question:
I’m buying goods in China, and selling directly to a customer. I don’t want my customer to see the name of the factory, so how can I put a different name in the Shipper?
Thanks,

- Hariesh Manaadiar November 10, 2016 At 7:45 PM
  
  Hi Andy, shipper on bill of lading need not necessarily be from the country of export, but that of course depends on the country of origin and their regulations.. So if your exporting country’s regulation allows it then you can do so..
James November 2, 2016 At 11:00 AM

Hi Hariesh, thank you for this informative piece. i have a question about customs clearance on through BL. If I have booked a container under TBL terms to an inland destination, who is repsonsible for the customs clearance into the final destination country? The carrier or me? Thanks

- Hariesh Manaadiar November 2, 2016 At 11:42 AM
  
  The customs clearance is the responsibility of the client at the border posts.. On the TBL, the carrier may assist with the clearance using their 3rd party service providers, but the documents and all info must be provided by the client..
Rijal August 24, 2016 At 9:32 AM

Hello, i want ask something

When a shipment sail with a three different ocean shipment (japan – taiwan; taiwan malaysia; malaysia – indonesia)
Is need a through bl or just ordinary bl
Thank you

Shahid Reza July 29, 2016 At 12:08 PM

Hariesh could you please explain the Advantages of ‘ To Order ‘ B/L over the other B/L’s ?

- Sumon August 5, 2016 At 10:13 AM
  
  By mentioning “To Order” on B/L, will secure the mutual interest of both seller and buyer through bank channel and if any failure of settling the payment, there will be legal authentic action, if require.
yu130 April 6, 2016 At 1:44 PM

May you please further expand on the meaning behind evidence of contract of carriage.

- mohamed imchichi June 21, 2016 At 7:54 AM
  
  As already highlighted above, this means that a contract is already in place and agreed between sellers/shippers and buyers/receivers and it also means the shippers/chrtrs have already signed a contracy with shipowners (voyage charter party) to transport the goods to the buyers.
Chris September 20, 2015 At 2:40 PM

With a straight bill of lading can the shipment change carriers?

- Hariesh Manaadiar September 20, 2015 At 5:27 PM
  
  Hello Chris, what do you mean by change carriers..?? Pls elaborate..
ridz June 24, 2015 At 12:08 PM

What is cargo documentation?

Darrel Silva August 6, 2014 At 12:47 AM

The contents here are great teaching resources.

I have some doubts of ORDER BoL’s. We know that an order bil can be sold to a third party.
Let say the seller shipped the cargo and then surrendered his bol and collected his money from bank as per letter of credit. Can he now sell the cargo which is on the ship? If so how will he endorse the back of it.

- Hariesh Manaadiar August 6, 2014 At 9:03 AM
  
  Hello Darrel, in order for cargo covered under a TO ORDER bill of lading to be to be released, the To Order party (either bank, shipper or customer) has to endorse the bill of lading.. Once the OBL has been endorsed and handed over to the endorsee, the title passes to the endorsee and the endorser has no further hold over the cargo so he cannot sell that cargo anymore.. Also remember that even if ONE original of a set of say 3 OBsL has been endorsed and duly discharged, the other two are deemed null and void..
- Darrel Silva August 6, 2014 At 11:30 PM
  
  Thanks so much Hariesh. But i am still confused. Once the original shipper puts the cargo on board he then surrender his OBL to the bank to get his money. Is that correct in the first instance? If so, Since he has surrendered ( or cancelled) his BL there is no way that he ( the original shipper) can make an endorsement on the back to sell it to another third party Am i right in this Hariesh.
- Hariesh Manaadiar August 7, 2014 At 8:15 AM
  
  Hi Darrel, a bill of lading is consigned based on what the shipper (or seller) wants to do with the cargo.. Say for example he has a CAD (Cash Against Delivery) arrangement with a buyer and he knows the consignee for many years and they have mutual trust, then the seller can issue a bill of lading showing the buyer as the consignee.. This bill then becomes a Straight Bill of Lading and is not Negotiable or Transferable.. Only the consignee on the bill of lading can take delivery..
  
  Lets say the seller wants to sell it to a Trader who then wants to sell it to someone else, then the bill of lading may be consigned “To Order of the Trader”.. Once the trader has paid the seller, the seller will give all the issued original bills of lading to the trader.. The trader will then endorse it to whoever he has finally sold the cargo to..
  
  In the case of an LC involved, the seller will consign it “To order of the Bank” as is indicated in the LC.. Once the vsl has sailed, the seller will hand over all the issued original bills of lading to the bank who will check all documentation as per the LC and if it is fine, will pay the seller and then they will negotiate with the buyer and/or their bank on who the cargo must be released to..
  
  The shippers endorsement on a bill of lading is required ONLY if the consignee is shown as “To order of Shipper” in which case seller will endorse it to whoever he is finally selling the cargo to.. Once he has a buyer and the buyer has paid him, he will endorse the bill to the buyer and after that the shipper has no hold over the cargo as the title has passed to the buyer.. In this case of “To order of Shipper” normally there is no LC or bank involved..
  
  Trust this clears your confusion..
  
  Also if you search for Letter of Credit in my blog, there are several articles that will clarify these things further..
mohammad isa July 21, 2014 At 6:56 PM

wow..your article is better than listening to my lecturer..hehe. i am doing an assignment regarding bill of lading and and just happen to visit this blog.simple and informative.

- Hariesh Manaadiar July 23, 2014 At 8:18 AM
  
  Thank you Mohammad.. I am glad you found it helpful.. Please pass the word around to other students like yourself so everyone can benefit.. 🙂
shaji kommoth June 23, 2014 At 4:19 PM

excellent

Yogesh Acharya June 19, 2014 At 9:54 AM

This article is really great… Thanks

Jadeja Mihirdev April 3, 2014 At 11:34 AM

Nice work will help many, Thank you Hariesh

TSN November 6, 2013 At 10:29 AM

Thanks Hariesh for useful information on this blog.
About B/L, do you think a ship liner can issue Seaway B/L and then Straight B/L without asking Seaway B/L to be surrendered?

- Hariesh Manaadiar November 6, 2013 At 8:00 PM
  
  Hi TSN, as mentioned in the post, since Seaway bill is not issued in original, there is no question of surrendering it..
dmahessbMahesh November 5, 2013 At 5:41 PM

Sir,

Pardon me for the delay due to Hindu New Year celebrations here in Gujarat, India.

Sir, what you point out is perfectly true, the ‘eMethod’ in no way diminish the importance of documents in international trade and they do have a solid legal foundation.

However, the ease and speed paperless transactions provide are certainly needed these days particularly when exchange of emails conclude a contract in couple of hours across the globe.

While digging more on ‘BOLERO’ which stands for “Bill of Lading Electronic Registry Organization’, I found ‘eUCP’ also now in practice since couple of years involving not only advising of LCs but presentation of documents also in electronic form including BOLs which are accepted and payments are released.

May be this new window is yet not familiar to small business houses, but the prospects of LC documents presentation without their physical journey across continents do suggest a lot of relief from the anxiety of timely submissions or more time available for amending the documents for assured payment.

I am yet not able to understand how in actual practice ‘eUCP’ works. Kindly explain the salient features in the lucid way only you can do.

Regards,

Mahesh

Karthik November 1, 2013 At 12:07 PM

Hareish you are doing an excellent work!!! Keep it up!!

- Hariesh Manaadiar November 2, 2013 At 5:38 PM
  
  Thanks Karthik..
steve October 29, 2013 At 1:29 PM

OB/L is a very important document, the person who have full set on hand is the legal owner of cargo.
some forwarder don’t understand what this document represent and think that it is only a “paper” but reality is not that

dmahessbMahesh October 29, 2013 At 10:38 AM

Hi!

Can you please share some information on use of electronic paperless BLs in practice now?

Mahesh

- Hariesh Manaadiar November 2, 2013 At 12:53 AM
  
  Hi Mahesh, you probably are referring to Seaway Bills that are issued electronically and paperless..Just a copy of the bill of lading generated from the system sent to client and discharge port agents..
  
  Since a Seaway bill of lading is not negotiable, such practice is accepted..
  
  There are of course lines that allow clients to print their Original Bills of Lading signed electronically, however for such bills, it is still required for the Originals to be PRINTED and surrendered physically.. For such negotiable, straight or order bills, electronic bills are not yet allowed..
- Mahesh November 2, 2013 At 5:06 PM
  
  Sir,
  
  What I am referring to is eBL. There had been a project named ‘BOLERO’ initiated by ICC & SWIFT. However, I found a private organization providing cloud based solutions like eBL. The portal is http://www.bolero.net
  
  How safe & simple these solutions are?
  
  Regards,
  
  Mahesh
- Hariesh Manaadiar November 2, 2013 At 5:36 PM
  
  Hi Mahesh, so far the only Electronic Bill that I have heard of or has been in the news much, is the one issued for Cargill for their shipment of soyabeans earlier this year from Argentina to Spain.. However I am not sure what type of bill of lading has been issued – a Negotiable Bill or a Seaway Bill..
  
  It would be interesting to hear how the banks and trade bodies function with the EBL..
  
  As far as I could see, whoever is involved in the logistics chain relating to that particular shipment has to be registered for handling this EBL.. The site you mentioned also says that they have successfully used the EBL..
  
  This could well be the future and whether a bill of lading is issued using paper or electronic resource, I personally don’t foresee the importance, role and requirements for the release of the bill of lading change.. Only the method of issue might change..
Rebecca October 29, 2013 At 9:38 AM

Hi Hariesh, long time listener, first time caller 🙂

Thanks for the excellent & informative article. There are a couple of things I wanted to share from my experience in exports (3 years exporting from Australia mainly to southeast Asia). The one thing I’ve found to be consistent across shipping lines and importers is that they are extremely INCONSISTENT with terminology and practices relating to bills. Even employees of the same company may have a different understanding of what a bill of lading actually is and how it is used.

‘Telex release’ vs ‘express release’ vs ‘waybill’ is one issue that’s caused our company headaches. Many of our customers and even some shipping lines use express release to refer to telex release. And in the past, customers have insisted that we amend the waybill to an express or telex release so they can collect the cargo – whether this is due to their own unfamiliarity with a waybill or the destination shipping line refusing to deal with waybills is unclear.

Also worth noting: some lines have additional telex release fees while an express release remains free, and others will charge for a late amendment to a waybill but will telex release the bill at no cost. Or there might be extra paperwork for a telex release, but none for an express release… etc. An express release bill and a telex released bill are functionally identical for our company and for our customers but it’s a very important distinction to the shipping line.

I suppose the moral of the story is that international trade always keeps you on your toes!

- Hariesh Manaadiar October 30, 2013 At 1:53 PM
  
  Hi Rebecca and welcome to the blog.. I agree with you with regards to the consistency of issuance of bills and also the terminologies.. All this stems from a lack of understanding of the role of each document.. I hope I was able to clarify the roles of the various types of bills in existence..
  
  Might be a good idea to forward the link to this article to all those clients and shipping lines that had the confusions.. 🙂
Dan October 28, 2013 At 7:48 PM

Another great post!

- Hariesh Manaadiar October 30, 2013 At 1:59 PM
  
  Thanks Dan, glad it is useful..
Clare October 27, 2013 At 11:15 PM

what is a Warsaw waybill or bill of lading ?

- Dhiraj Kumar July 28, 2014 At 8:32 AM
  
  Good work. Very informative indeed.