How many original bills of lading must I surrender to get release of cargo..?? (2024)

This question popped up on my comments and emails quite a few times since the beginning of this year and therefore I decided to write this short note to answer it..

Before I get to the answer to the above question, let me refresh your memory as to what is a bill of lading and what are the functions of a bill of lading..

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

A bill of lading has 3 basic purposes or roles..

1. Evidence ofContract of Carriage
2. Receipt of Goodsand
3. Document of Title to the goods

The answer to the above question lies in identifying :-

1. What type of bill of lading was issued..??
2. How many originals were issued..??

When I say type of bill of lading I refer to a bill of lading being issued as a

• Straight Bill of Lading or
• Sea Waybill of Lading or
• Negotiable Bill of Lading

There is a big difference between these 3 types of bills of lading and it is therefore important to identify the type of bill of lading issued and understand how each of it works before understanding how many original bills of lading are required for release of cargo..

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/Lis a NON-NEGOTIABLE & NON-TRANSFERABLE DOCUMENT..

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

This B/Lsatisfies 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/Lis issued to a “named” consignee butwithout any originalsit maybe considered as a “Sea Waybill“.. This B/Lis also aNON-NEGOTIABLE & NON-TRANSFERABLE DOCUMENT..

A Sea Waybill is usually issued

1. for inter company shipments like fromACME Company HollywoodtoACME Company in the Middle of the Australian Outbackor
2. 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
3. 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 andthe release mayalso be termed as an Express Release and is mentioned as such on the body of the B/L and manifest..

This B/Lsatisfies 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/Lissued is in Original(s) and consigned “TO ORDER” or “TO ORDER OF SHIPPER” or “TO ORDER OF XYZ BANK” it is termed as “Negotiable B/LorOrder 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 aLetter 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 followedif 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 endorsem*nts 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 B/L satisfies all of the above 3 roles..

Read thepermutation and combination regarding the consignee..

Ok now to the question “How many original bills of lading must I surrender to get release of cargo..??“

There are only two types of bills of lading that involve the issuance of original bills and they areStraight Bill of Lading and Negotiable Bill of Lading..

In either case, the ruling is the same as shown below in the screen grab of a Hapag Lloyd bill of lading..

This shows how many bills of lading are required for the release of a cargo (wherein a Negotiable Bill of Lading or Straight Bill of Lading has been issued)..

If you look at the highlighted parts, you can see that release of cargo (delivery order) can be granted to the authorised consignee after presentation of 1 of the number of original bills of lading issued..

But there are also cases wherein the shipping line might require the surrender of all the issued originals, specially in cases where they maybe making some exceptions on the endorsem*nts required on the bill of lading..

Standard number of original bills of lading issued seems to be 3 Originals, so assuming 3 originals have been issued, upon surrender of one of the duly endorsed original bill of lading, the other 2 becomes null and void..

If you want to know which original has been surrendered, most of the lines have a stamp that says FIRST ORIGINAL, SECOND ORIGINAL, THIRD ORIGINAL.. The numbers don’t have a hierarchy and is just for the sake of identification..

So the answer to the question “How many original bills of lading must I surrender to get release of cargo..??”

• if it is a Negotiable Bill of Lading, AT LEAST one duly endorsed original bill of lading
• if it is a Straight Bill of Lading, AT LEAST one original bill of lading

In the case of a Straight Bill of Lading however, there are several opinions and cases relating to whether ANY (whether 1 or more) original bill of lading is required for the release of cargo, depending on the country and which COGSA has been used..

For example the US COGSA does not require the presentation of the original straight bill of lading for release of cargo whereas certain Scandinavian and Chinese jurisdictions require same.. UK COGSA has also been shown to be fickle in this aspect..

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Article republished after critical updates