Four decisive B/L fields for cargo claims

The bill of lading serves as prima-facie evidence of the terms of the contract of carriage between the shipper and the carrier.

Imagine how crucial this document is when it comes to handling claims? ๐Ÿ‘‡

You know the drill. Once the cargo is loaded on board the vessel (โ€œshipped on boardโ€), itโ€™s time to issue the B/L, which serves ๐Ÿฏ ๐—ฝ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐˜€.

1. ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐—ฝ๐˜ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ด๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐˜€: it contains a description of the cargo received, including the marks needed to identify the goods, as well as the quantity of packages, their volume and weight.

The B/L also ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ด๐—ผ ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ โ€œ๐—ฐ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ปโ€, in other words, ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—ฎ๐—ฝ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ด๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ฑ ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป. Well, unless itโ€™s โ€œdirtyโ€, and remarks to this effect have been made on the B/L itself.

2. ๐—˜๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜: the terms of carriage agreed upon before the goods are sent to the ship are printed on the front and back of the B/L.

3. ๐——๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜๐—น๐—ฒ: the B/L authorised holder is entitled to receive delivery from the carrier. However, it doesnโ€™t necessarily operate as a transfer of the property.

As the B/L is a legal record of the transaction, inaccuracies in completing it may have serious repercussions.

๐Ÿ’ถ Additional expenses
๐Ÿ›‘ Interruption of your shipping service
โŒ Loss of your insurance coverage
๐Ÿ‘ฎโ€โ™‚๏ธ Criminal charges in case of fraud

Weโ€™d like to help you prevent these issues by giving you a few tips to fill out your B/Ls accurately. Check out the carousel, where we point out 4 B/L fields that are decisive to determine who has the right to file a cargo claim.

P.S. Make sure to keep your B/Ls on file for 7 years. You may need to use them as supporting documents for settling shipping claims and legal disputes.