提单(bill_of_lading)中英文简介

B/L

去船公司换取

D /O

，凭

D/O

去港口提

货。

二者在货物提取之前有且只有一个留在货主 手里，只不过

D/O

不再是物权凭

证， 货主领取

D/O

之后，说明船公司已经把货物放给货主了。

Bill of Lading -

Introduction

When discussing Bills of Lading, we must distinguish between a carrier B/L (B/L) and a House B/L

(HBL). Please see separate chapter for HBL.

In Maersk Logistics, we do not issue carrier Bills of Lading. Only Ocean Carriers (also known as

VOCCs or shipping lines) can issue a carrier B/L.

In the old days, the Bill of Lading was a document issued by the captain of the vessel for goods carried

onboard his vessel. This is not practical today where instead the document is issued by an agent acting

on behalf of the captain.

Maersk Sealand

?

s offices around the world have been empowered to sign Bills of Lading on behalf of

“

the captain

”

(the principal carrier).

Bill of Lading - Issuing Party

The B/L is issued by an ocean carrier, also known as a VOCC

（船公司，有船公共承运人）

(vessel-

operating common carrier) or shipping line

（航运公司）

.

Maersk Sealand

（马士基海陆有限公司）

, being a VOCC, issues Bs/L for goods shipped onboard their

vessels.

Bill of Lading

–

Functions

Basically, a Bill of Lading has 3 functions:

1. A receipt

（收据）

for the cargo

2. A document of title

3. Evidence of a contract of carriage

1. Receipt for cargo

The B/L is a receipt by the carrier that the goods are in his custody

（保管）

. The B/L acts as a receipt

between the shipper and the carrier until such time as title has been passed to a third party (the

consignee). Then it becomes an independent contract between the carrier and the third party. The third

B/L

2

party assumes

（接管，承担）

the rights, responsibilities and obligations identical

（同一的，完全相同

的）

to those of the shipper.

2. Evidence of contract of carriage

It is common to hear the B/L referred to as the

?

contract of carriage

?

. However, the contract of carriage

is always the underlying

（基本的）

agreement between the carrier and the customer to carry his goods.

The B/L is merely evidence of this.

The B/L evidences a contract of carriage between the ocean carrier and the shipper/consignee in the

B/L.

Also see: Evidence of contract of carriage in the Glossary

（词汇表）

.

3. Document of Title

（物权凭证，所有权凭证）

A B/L is a Document of Title. This means that the legal right (the title) to the goods covered by the B/L

can pass from one party to another by means of endorsements

（背书）

(please see explanation

below).

The carrier will only release the goods at destination to a rightful holder of a duly endorsed

（

提单可以适

当背书）

original Bill of Lading.

At the time the B/L is issued, the shipper will advise the carrier who the B/L should be consigned

（交

付）

to - I.e. who the Consignee on the B/L is.

The shipper can choose to consign the B/L in different ways:

a. Full name and address of an individual or company

b.

“

TO ORDER

”

(of shipper)

c.

“

TO ORDER OF [bank]

”

- example: To order of Dubai Bank

d.

“

TO ORDER OF [company]

”

- example: To order of Toy Trader Ltd.

e.

“

TO ORDER OF [individual]

”

- example: To order of Gary Jensen, Street, City

“

To order

”

means that the party can transfer their rights as consignee to another party by endorsing the

B/L.

3a. Endorsement

An endorsement is a signature (and company stamp) on the B/L (and preferably also a clear written

statement that the B/L is being endorsed to

“

Company XYZ

”

). The endorsement is written on the

original B/L document by the party who is shown as the consignee on the B/L but now wishes to

transfer this right to another party.

When obtaining the endorsed B/L, the new consignee now assumes all rights, obligations and

responsibilities that were previously vested in the first consignee. This also includes the right to transfer

the B/L to yet another party by adding a new endorsement on the B/L document. In this way, a chain of

endorsements may take place.

The Ocean Carrier

（海运承运人）

will check the endorsements on the original B/L document before

releasing the goods at destination. As you can see, it is not always the first consignee (as printed on the

B/L when it was issued) that actually take delivery of the goods at destination.

Because of this function ad Document of Title, a B/L is often referred to as a

“

negotiable

”

（可转让的）

document but

“

tra nsferable

”

is actually the more correct term.

Bill of Lading - Originals and Copies

The fact that the carrier B/L functions as Document of Title places great importance on the B/L

document. All parties involved (shipper, consignee and carrier) rely on the document to decide who can

take delivery of the goods at destination.

B/L

3

The carrier will normally print a B/L document in 3 originals and a reasonable number of copies. It is

only an Original B/L document that can be transferred to another party. The copies may be pre-printed

?

Copy

?

or

?

Non- Negotiable

?

. Both are non- transferable.

Although 3 originals have been issued, the carrier will release the goods at destination to whoever

presents one duly and properly endorsed original B/L

Now you may think:

“

But what if the shipper

（托运人，发货人，货主）

sells the goods twice and

endorses two of the original Bs/L to two different parties?

”

The carrier must exercise due care to check that the B/L is properly endorsed to the party who submits

（提交）

it. If this is the case and the carrier is in good faith, he can release the goods. The change of

ownership of the cargo is a matter between the seller and the buyer only. The carrier is not involved. If

the seller has sold the goods twice, it is a matter between the seller and the two buyers.

Bill of Lading - Carrier

’

s responsibility

The three main areas of responsibility of the carrier under a B/L are:

1. Responsibility for correct description of the goods

2. Responsibility to release the goods to the properly entitled party at the proper location

3. Responsibility to care for the cargo while it is in the carrier

?

s custody

1. Responsibility for correct description of the goods

Any third party buyer may purchase goods by relying on the description of the goods in the B/L

(quantity, condition, etc.).

The description of the goods on the B/L is usually supplied by the shipper or his agent. (The carrier will

not know what is inside a container or carton packed by the shipper). It is however essential that if the

carrier knows that the description of the goods supplied by the shipper is not correct (for example that

cartons are damaged), the carrier clearly notes the discrepancy

（不符，相差）

on the B/L or refuses to

accept the cargo and issue the B/L.

If the carrier does not note the discrepancy on the B/L, the carrier

“

steps into the shoes

”

of the shipper

and assumes responsibility, on behalf of the shipper, to the buyer of the goods. This means that if there

was a dispute between the carrier and the buyer of the goods, the buyer could file a claim against the

carrier. The carrier would need to file claim against the shipper but may not be able to prove that the

goods were not received as stated in the B/L.

2. Responsibility to release the goods to the properly entitled party at the proper location

Whoever presents a duly and properly endorsed B/L at the correct destination is entitled to take delivery

of the goods.

The carrier receiving a B/L and being satisfied that the proper endorsement is in place, when releasing

the goods, is relieved of any responsibility should it later appear that the B/L holder was in fact not the

proper receiver.

The carrier must of course also ensure that the person who submits the B/L and take delivery of the

goods is a representative of the consignee (e.g. an employee or an agent of the company to whom the

B/L has been consigned).

Release of the cargo without receipt of a properly endorsed B/L compromises the carrier

?

s responsibility

towards the true owner of the goods. This may expose the carrier to unlimited liability

（责任）

inclusive

（包括）

of consequential(

间接的

) damages. In other words, the carrier may be required to

compensate

（赔偿）

the rightful consignee not only for the value of the goods but potentially also for

additional costs such as loss of sales profits.

If the carrier is in doubt about who the rightful owner of the B/L is, e.g. because there has been a chain

of endorsements and the carrier is not familiar with all signatures and stamps of the intermediate

consignees, the carrier should in principle contact these parties to check. The carrier may can also

contact the shipper and/or the notify

（通知）

party on the B/L to hear their views.

B/L

4