Classification of Bill of Lading
Bill of Lading can be divided based on different
attributes.
Let us discuss on the types of Bill of lading.
Based on
carrier
1. Master Bill of Lading
(MBL): Once goods are received by the shipping line / carrier and
the vessel is sailed, the shipping line issues a Bill of Lading to the booking
party (in case of direct booking, the booking party is the shipper, but if
house B/L is involved then booking party will be a freight forwarder), that
Bill of Lading is known as the Master Bill of Lading.
2. House Bill of Lading (HBL): Once
goods are received by the shipping line and the vessel is sailed, shipping line
issues a Master Bill of Lading to the
freight forwarder and the freight forwarder issues a House Bill of Lading to
the shipper. For each HBL there is a MBL.
Based on
payment & condition of goods
3. Clean Bill of Lading: Carrier
issues Clean Bill of Lading once goods are received in good condition and there
is no damage to the goods.
4. Claused Bill of Lading (Dirty Bill of
Lading): If goods or containers are received in damaged condition,
carrier issues bill of lading mentioning all details of the damages is known as
Claused or Dirty Bill of Lading.
Based on ownership of goods
5. Order Bill of Lading: The Bill of Lading which is consigned "To order", "To the order" "To the order of ABC limited" is known as Order Bill of Lading. In case of Order Bill of Lading, ownership can be transferred to the third party by endorsing on the backside of BL.
6. Bearer Bill of Lading: In
case of Bearer Bill of Lading, whoever holds the physical Bill of Lading will
be allowed to take the delivery. In Bearer Bill of Lading, consignee field is
kept blank or "Bearer" is mentioned in consignee field.
7. Seawaybill: Seaway Bill is similar to Bill of Lading, which acts as Contract of Carriage and Receipt of the Goods, Seaway Bill confirms that the mentioned goods are loaded on the mentioned vessel and the same will be shipped from one place to another. But the Seaway Bill does not act as Document of title, so it can not be used for negotiation with bank, Seaway Bill can not be used if Letter of credit involved, in case of Seaway Bill the ownership can not be transferred to third party, consignee is not required to submit original and endorsed copy of Seaway Bill to the carrier for taking delivery of goods, carrier will identify the consignee, verify based on the details mentioned in the Seaway Bill and deliver the goods to the consignee.
Based on
Vessel status
8. Received for Shipment Bill of Lading (RFS
Bill of Lading): When the shipment is handed over to the
carrier inside the port or terminal, but it's not yet loaded onto the vessel,
in this point time if shipper required that Bill of lading, carrier issues a
Received for Shipment (RFS) Bill of Lading. RFS B/L only confirms that the
goods are received by carrier for loading onto the vessel but not yet loaded.
9. Shipped on board Bill of Lading (SOB Bill of
Lading): After shipment is at port or terminal, loaded onto vessel
and the vessel is sailed, carrier will issue Shipped On Board Bill of Lading.
Shipped On Board Bill of Lading is the confirmation that the carrier received
the goods and loaded onto the vessel.
10. Stale Bill of Lading: A normal
Bill of Lading is converted in Stale Bill of Lading if it is not presented to
the nominated bank within presentation period.
Based on
type of transportation
11. Combined transport or Multimodal Bill of
Lading: When more than one mode of transportation involved in a
shipment (e.g. rail and sea), the Bill of Lading issued for entire
shipment is known as Multimodal Bill of Lading which is also known as Combined
transport Bill of Lading.
12. Through Bill of Lading: Through
Bill of Lading is a Bill of Lading which covers the receipt of goods at point
of origin to the delivery of the same at place of delivery, more than one mode
of transport can be used.
13. Charter Party Bill of Lading: Mostly
in case of bulk cargo, charterers hire the vessel from the ship-owners (terms
and condition are as per Charter party contract) and handle all the operations.
In this case Charterer and shipper enters onto an agreement named as
"Contract of carriage" and the charterer issues Charter Party Bill of
Lading.
14. Ocean Bill of Lading: The Bill
of Lading used for the overseas transportation through international water is
known as Ocean Bill of Lading.
15. Direct Bill of Lading:
Sometimes the vessel in which the goods are loaded in place of origin
deliver the goods at the final place of destination, in this case Direct Bill
of Lading issued.
Based on
post issuance activities
16. Surrendered Bill of Lading: After departure of the vessel, it takes 2-3 days to issue the Original Bill of Lading, after that shipper send those documents to the consignee which takes another 3-5 days (depends on the distance), so as a whole it takes more than a week time for the documents to get delivered to the consignee. Now think, if the transit time is less than one week, consignee will receive the Bill of lading after arrival of vessel which may lead to Demurrage/ Detention charges.
17. Switch Bill of Lading: Switch
Bill of Lading or Switch B/L is the substitute of the first set of Bill of
lading (original Bill of Lading) issued by the carrier or their agent. Switch
B/L is same as the original B/L, which serves the same purpose as original B/L
(first B/L).
If a trader (A) buys a product from a seller (B) and sells
the same product to a customer (C) on higher price (adding their margin), the
cargo is shipped directly from the seller's (B) place to the customer (C). The
original B/L will show B as shipper and A as consignee, but A does not want to
reveal the identity of B to C for obvious reason. In this case, A will
surrender the original B/L to the carrier or their agent and request for a
Switch B/L, carrier or agent will issue a new Bill of Lading, which shows A as
shipper & C as customer, the new B/L is called as the Switch B/L. Switch
B/L can be issued at any port of any country (comes in the vessel route) except
country of origin.
We have written various articles on the topics related to export, import, logistics and supply chain; click on below links if you want to read.
How to book containers and bulk vessels
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