BILL OF LADING

Types of Bill of Lading

Sea Waybill

The sea waybill is a document issued to a shipper by a shipping company and which serves as evidence of the a contract of carriage and as a receipt for the goods. The waybill can be compared to a bill of lading but to a lesser degree.

The sea waybill shows the same characteristics as the documents used for road transport, railway transport or air transport. Often the sea waybill is used for transportation from house to house within the frame of a multinational or for the transportation of personal goods. However, the sea waybill can also be useful in other areas. So, the sea waybill is appropriate for short traffics, because the conventional bills of lading would arrive after the goods have reached their destination. Most of the goods shipped on the Atlantic Route is done under the sea waybills. In America, the sea waybill is also called "Straight Bill of Lading".

Since the sea waybill must not be presented to the Master in order to receive the goods, delays due to postal dispatches are completely impossible.

The goods will be delivered to the consignee on production of proof of identity without presentation of the waybill.

See the face of a Linerwaybill:

"The goods shipped under this Sea Waybill will be delivered to the Party named as Consignee or its authorized agent, on production of proof of identity without any documentary formalities. Should ..."

The sea waybill is not a document of title, it is not negotiable and it bears the name of the consignee who must only identify himself to take delivery of the goods. Because it is not negotiable, it is not acceptable to banks as a collateral security to obtain, for instance, a documentary credit. The main purpose of the waybill is to avoid delaying the delivery of cargoes when bills of lading arrive late at the port of discharge.

It follows that sea waybills to order, are impossible, since they always have to name a consignee.

De sea waybill can also be issued as "blank backed", in which case, the Carrier's Standard Terms and Conditions will be applicable or the terms and conditions can be printed on the back of the sea waybill.

The sea waybill serves only as a substitute and as simplification of the bill of lading and not as a replacement for other non-negotiable documents such as the "parcel receipt" to which the Hague Rules or the Hague-Visby Rules do not apply. It is neither applicable for the shipment of live animals or deck cargo, which are clearly excluded by abovementioned Rules.

Sea waybills are mainly used in the liner shipping (Linerwaybill) or in conjunction with charter-parties, other contracts or cargo receipts. They can also be used for combined transport or for multimodal transport.

Typical waybills are:

- The GENWAYBILL;

- The LINEWAYBILL;

- The COMBICONWAYBILL;

- The MULTI WAYBILL;

- The HEAVYCONRECEIPT;

- The WORLDFOODRECEIPT 99;

- The WORLDFOODWAYBILL;

- The INTANKWAYBILL..

See also the following comments made by Bimco:

- Genwaybill ;
- Linewaybill ;
- Combiconwaybill ;
- Multiwaybill 95 ;
- Heavyconreceipt ;
- Worldfoodreceipt 99 ;
- Worldfoodwaybill ;

See also: Combined Transport Sea Waybill.

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