Chapter 7: The Cargo

7.12

The face of the bill of lading contains space for the insertion of details of the cargo covered by it. This is where the bill of lading fulfils its function as a receipt for the goods shipped. Article III r.3 of the Hague and Hague-Visby Rules requires the carrier to issue on demand 16 to the shipper a bill of lading which shows

• (a) the “leading marks” necessary to identify the goods,

• (b) the number of packages or pieces, or the quantity or weight of cargo, 17

• (c) the apparent order and condition of the goods.

7.13

It has been held that the obligation under Art. III r.3 requires an accurate statement of fact and the duty cannot be discharged by making any statement, accurate or not. 18 Moreover, the obligation is unqualified or absolute and not satisfied merely by the master or carrier undertaking reasonable care. 19 Article 15(1) of the Hamburg Rules 1978 is broadly similar, except that there is an obligation to state the number of packages or pieces, and the quantity or weight of cargo. 20 The distinction may be of some relevance when considering reservation clauses. 21

7.14

It is one of the general functions of the bill of lading to serve as a receipt containing an acknowledgement by the carrier that it has received the goods in question. This information will be directly relevant to any cargo claim and will also form the basis on which merchants will use the bill of lading as a document of title in order to transfer interests in the goods in question. The information is usually recorded on modern box-format liner bills, such as the P & O Nedlloyd Bill, under four headings: “marks and numbers”; “number and kind of packages/description of goods”; “gross weight”; “measurement [by volume]”. The 1993 Mitsui bill also refers, in the “marks and numbers” column, to the “Seal No.”. This refers to the customs seal on a container and may well help to prevent fraud, e.g. where a thief breaks into a container and replaces the seal with a false one. In order to prevent the fraudulent use of an “on board” ink stamp in certain P & O Nedlloyd services to the Indian sub-continent, a statement is printed prominently on the left-hand margin of the face of the bill which draws attention to a requirement for the use of a separately printed non-removable “on board” label. 22

7.15

Charterparty bills, such as Congenbill, would more commonly have two headings only, such as “shipper’s description of goods” and “gross weight”. The difference derives from the fact that the charterparty bills will normally be covering bulk cargoes, such as grain, where there are no packages to be identified. Some tanker bills of lading (usually charterparty bills) may contain a printed table which purports to list the “Ullages taken from the top”. These ullages (i.e. the measurement of distance from the top of the cargo tank down to the level of the loaded cargo) may be filled in against each tank number (e.g. “Tank No. 1: Stbr; Cent; Port”) and may also give a temperature in degrees centigrade. The information contained in the table may be of assistance to the shipowner in showing exactly how full each cargo tank was at the time of loading. When matched with an equivalent ullage reading at the discharge port there may be evidence to show that no cargo has been lost during the voyage, although there may be some doubt as to the precise legal significance to be attached to such notations on the bill. 23

7.16

The information about the cargo in the bill of lading will be used not only for the purposes of a receipt, but also by the carrier in calculating the correct freight. After the description of the cargoes, most forms include a statement recording the fact that the details have usually been supplied or filled in by the shipper. Conlinebill states “Particulars furnished by the Merchant”. The Hapag-Lloyd bills refer to “Above particulars as declared by shipper”, and the 1996 bills have included the additional statement “without responsibility or warranty as to correctness by carrier”. 24 Other bills have similar wording, e.g. the P & O Nedlloyd Bill, which adds the following, “..., but not acknowledged by the carrier (see clause 11)”. The additional words and the reference to a particular clause, which is headed “Description of goods”, are meant to deal with the evidentiary effect of the various statements. 25 The shipper may need some information on the face of the bill for documentary credit purposes, although the full description and specifications of the cargo will be found in the commercial invoice produced under the sale contract. The shipper will be required to indemnify the carrier against inaccuracies in the bill. 26

7.17

Although the forms record that the details have usually been supplied by the shipper and not by the carrier it is not necessarily the case that the shipper had no part in the actual preparation of the bill. 27 The shipper may have a pre-printed supply of the carrier’s forms which it fills in and presents to the carrier for signature. In practice, the bill of lading may have been prepared on the basis of a “mate’s receipt”, which is a practical record kept by the officer in charge of loading and which may be handed to the shipper so that the bill of lading may be drawn up. This practice may vary considerably, e.g. where modern liner companies use computers to prepare the necessary bills of lading. In such cases the bill may be drawn up by the carrier or its agents on the basis of information supplied by the shipper and from the mate’s receipt (or its equivalent). In any event, it is apparent that the carrier has often to rely greatly on the shipper’s information, e.g. as to the contents of a sealed container. 28

7.18

In addition to the general description of the goods on the face, and clauses referring to cargo on the reverse, most bills contain a detailed paragraph on their face (normally below and to the right of the description of the cargo) which will also make some reference to what...