How do I know the bill of lading issued is a House Bill or Master Bill..??

“How do I know the bill of lading issued is  House Bill of Lading or Master Bill of Lading? Is it mentioned anywhere on the bill of lading that it is a House Bill or a Master Bill?” 

I really love such basic but curious questions because it rejuvenates the gray matter..

First let’s examine the definitions of a few entities that will be involved in the explanation of this answer.. The term ship and vessel are used interchangeably..

Shipping Line : is a company engaged in the process of transporting (shipping) cargo from Point A to Point B..

When operated on established routes and schedules, the operation is known as “Liner Shipping” and when not operated on established routes and schedules the operation is known as “Tramping”..

A shipping line might or might not own or operate the ship that they load the cargo on..

The ship could be owned by X (known as Ship Owner) and operated by Y (known as Vessel Operator) because either X doesn’t have the capability of operating the ship but has the money to invest in it or doesn’t want the responsibility of operating it and is only interested in the revenues generated..

Slot Charterer : is a shipping line who chooses to buy certain amount of “slots” (space on board a ship) from the principal vessel operators on every vessel.. These “slots” may or may not be fixed for a voyage or for the duration of the consortium..

Freight Forwarder : is an entity that secures the business of various exporters and importers and has the ability/facility to store, distribute their clients cargoes in addition to negotiating freight rates on behalf of the client, process all relevant customs, port and government documentation on behalf of their client either directly or through 3rd party sources..

NVOCC Operator : is an entity that are in certain areas accorded the status of a virtual “carrier” and in certain cases accepts all liabilities of a carrier..

An NVOCC can and sometimes do own and operate their own or leased containers.. In certain countries like USA, the NVOCC operators are required to file their tariffs with the government regulatory bodies (like FMC) and create a public tariff.. A NVOCC is popularly known as a “carrier to shippers” and “shipper to carriers”..

 

So why am I giving this whole long story in response to a simple question..?? It is because all these above mentioned entities are capable of issuing their own bills of lading and the bills of lading they issue can be either a HBL or MBL depending on who is issuing it..

 

So back to the question “How do I know the bill of lading issued is a House Bill or Master Bill..??“

None of the bills of lading issued by any of the above entities will state anywhere whether it is a House Bill of Lading (abbreviated to HBL) or Master Bill of Lading (abbreviated to MBL).. 

Bills of lading only displays whether it is a Sea Waybill, Combined Transport Bill of Lading or Port to Port Bill of Lading..

The most common way of distinguishing whether a bill of lading is a HBL or an MBL would be to see who is the carrier mentioned on the Bill of Lading..

You can see this either from the logo of the carrier or where the carrier signs the bill of lading (like the examples below)

Alphaliner provides a constantly updated ranking of the 100 largest container/liner operators taking into account the fleets of virtually all container operators worldwide..

Take a look at the latest ranking of container/liner operators as of current..

If a bill of lading is issued by any of the lines mentioned in the list, it is safe to assume that it would be a MBL as these are liner operators and cover the majority of the worlds containerised cargo..

 

What are the scenarios under which a HBL is issued and who issues them..??

• HBL maybe issued by a Groupage operator – Groupage operator books an FCL with the shipping line.. Once the cargo is packed, they issue their own HBLs to their clients and collect the MBL from the shipping line..
• HBL maybe issued by a NVOCC or Freight Forwarder who handles the cargo on behalf of their clients, who might be using them for the cost benefit they can provide as compared to a direct booking with the shipping line.. The FF issues their HBL and collects the MBL from the shipping line..
• HBL maybe issued by a NVOCC or Freight Forwarder to also mask the identity of the actual shipper/consignee and they collect the MBL from the shipping line..

When a HBL and MBL are issued for a shipment, normally a hierarchy is followed especially with regards to filing manifest with customs..

The entity issuing the MBL (shipping line) will have to file their manifest first in some cases, making reference to the different HBL’s issued under the MBL.. The manifest containing all the HBLs is then filed with customs making reference to the MBL..

As described in one of my previous articles, there is a difference between House bill of lading & Master bill of lading and it is important to understand these documentary differences between a HBL and MBL..

---

Article republished with some updates..

The post How do I know the bill of lading issued is a House Bill or Master Bill..?? appeared first on Shipping and Freight Resource.

Via Moving http://www.rssmix.com/