Bills of Lading
West has assembled a library of resources dedicated to helping Members with matters involving Bills of Lading, including videos, claims guides and articles covering a wide variety of topics.
An introduction to Bills of Lading
Watch our helpful introductory video which discusses the three functions of a Bill of Lading and common issues which can arise from the perspective of the contractual carrier.
Electronic Bills of Lading
The use of electronic Bills of Lading is becoming increasingly common in many shipping trades and the number of system providers continues to grow. West has produced guides and other information to help guide Members in this area.
Paperless Trading - A Guide to Electronic Bills of Lading
Electronic bills of lading have been in existence for some time but their use has recently begun to increase significantly. In order to support Members in their use of such systems, the International Group of P&I Clubs (“IG”) analysed those offered by some suppliers in order to assess whether liabilities fall within Club cover.
Read hereClaims Guides
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Bills of Lading: Functions of a Bill of Lading PDF (152.5 KB)
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Bills of Lading: Quantity and quality issues PDF (215 KB)
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Bills of Lading: Letters of Indemnity PDF (213.5 KB)
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Bills of Lading: Cargo Shortage Claims PDF (389.3 KB)
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Bills of Lading: Rights and Liabilities PDF (235.6 KB)
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Incorporation of Charterparty terms into Bill of Lading PDF (130.4 KB)
Related links
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Bills Of Lading 03 Jul, 2019West P&I Bills of Lading Deck Cargo Clause
Members are reminded that in order to ensure that liabilities for the carriage of cargo on deck fall within Club cover, the contract of carriage must contain an appropriate liberty or be endorsed with a suitable clause.
Letters of Indemnity
It is common industry practice for Members to be asked to accept a Letter of Indemnity (LOI) from a charterer or other party in return for the delivery of cargo without presentation of the original Bills of Lading, or for delivery of cargo at a port other than that named in the Bill of Lading, or a combination of the two.
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