Who can sign a charter party bill of lading as per UCP 600?

Letter of credit rules give special attention to transport documents.

If you read the latest version of letter of credit rules, UCP 600, you will realize that all transport documents have been specified in very detail.

UCP 600 rules define by whom each transport document must be signed in order be acceptable under letter of credit transactions.

For example UCP 600 article 20 states that a bill of lading, however named, must appear to indicate the name of the carrier and be signed by the carrier or a named agent for or on behalf of the carrier, or the master or a named agent for or on behalf of the master.

Today I would like to explain by whom a charter party bill of lading should be signed as per UCP 600?

Is it possible to submit a charter party bill of lading instead of a marine bill of lading under a letter of credit payment?

Letter of credit rules define different types of bills of lading.

Multimodal bill of lading, marine bill of lading, non-negotiable bill of lading and charter party bill of lading are different types of bills of lading, which have been defined by UCP 600.

Please keep in mind that UCP 600 is the latest and current version of L/C rules.

Exporters and importers as well as bank personnel should understand the details of letter of credit rules very well, otherwise they make costly mistakes.

Today I would like to explain whether a charter party bill of lading can be presented instead of a marine bill of lading under letter of credit transactions.

What is a charter party bill of lading?

International sea freight transportation can be divided into two main categories:

Containerized cargo shipping and dry bulk cargo shipping.

Containerized shipping deals with relatively small scale cargo shipments.

Electronic goods, processed packed foods, textiles, mobile phones, furniture and almost every manufactured products are examples of typical goods that can be carried by container vessels.

Shippers of the containerized cargo receive ocean bills of lading as a transport document from the container vessel carriers.

Bulk shipping deals with huge cargo shipments.

Coal, sugar, timber, copper, iron ore, chemicals are the main examples of goods that can be carried by bulk vessels.

Shippers of the bulk cargo receive charter party bills of lading as a transport document from the owners or charterers of the break bulk vessels.

Today I would like to explain the core elements of a charter party bill of lading.

What is a straight bill of lading?

You have to be very carefull when completing the consignee field of a bill of lading, because it does not only define to whom the goods should be delivered, but also explains delivery procedures of the consignment.

If the bill of lading issued in a negotiable form, to order (shipper) or to the order of a named party, at least one original bill of lading must be surrendered to the carrier's agent at the port of discharge in order to get the consignment.

But what happens if a bill of lading not issued in negotiable form by simply completing the consignee field writing direct consignee's name and address. 

On this article I will be explaining the straight bill of lading, which is a type of bill of lading that is issued in a non-negotiable form.

Negotiable Bill of Lading Example 1: "To Order" and Blank Endorsed

According to Incoterms 2010 FOB, CFR, CIF trade terms rules, the seller is required either to deliver the goods on board the vessel or to procure goods already so delivered for shipment.

The reference to “procure” here caters for multiple sales down a chain (‘string sales’), particularly common in the commodity trades.

Above definition explains seller's delivery obligation under FOB, CFR and CIF trade terms according to Incoterms 2010 rules. As mentioned on the 1st paragraph, incoterms rules allow multiple sales or string sales.

But what sort of bill of lading the seller (exporter) should supply to his buyer, which becomes the new seller and trades the same goods to another potential buyer with the same bill of lading?