Types of Bill of Lading issued by who? The shipping Line? By using the term shipping line in international logistics trade, we mean the transporter. The shipping company, who conveys the cargo from the country of supply or origin to the destination country of interest. As stated in one of my articles, the shipping line is a company that manages and operates the vessel (rented or owned), which does the actual movement of cargo. The shipping lines accept for shipment at least a container load from exporters for shipping. Hence, exporters with less than container loads (LCL) have to engage the services of a freight forwarder. The Forwarder then combines cargoes from different customers to form full container loads. Otherwise, such exporter or shipper would have to pay more for less. Once the container is loaded on the ship, the master bill of lading is issuable from carrier to the freight forwarder.
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Freight Forwarder reserves the right to choice of shipping line in a less-than-container-load shipment. This does not have to worry both the exporter and the importer because the shipment will definitely return to the Freight Forwarder’s warehouse even at the destination in Nigeria in this case.
TYPES OF BILL OF LADING: CAN THE MASTER BILL OF LADING BE USED FOR IMPORT CARGO CLEARANCE?
In a monosyllabic, answer is no, for clearing less than container loads in Nigeria. The master bill of lading or carrier bill of lading is not of much use by the importer or exporter of a less than container loads (LCL), since he can actually get specific information concerning his own consignment from the house bill of lading. So, always ask the shipper for the House Bill of Lading (HBL) when you import an LCL.
It is the duty of the shipper to send the house bill of lading to the consignee. Thus, the consignee hands it to the Clearance agent for clearing of his consignment.
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In summary:
The master bill of lading or carrier bill of lading is not of much practical use for the consignee and the consignor of LCL. To take delivery of cargo at origin, the importers of less than container loads (LCL) shipment need the house bill of lading or other acceptable forms of the bill of lading.
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