Can multiple names be listed under shipper in a bill of lading..??
This is a question raised by a reader.. I thought i would throw out this question to you my dear readers..
In my experience i have not seen more than 1 shipper listed on a bill of lading.. I have seen 2 Consignees or 2 Notify parties, but never more than 1 shipper in the shipper’s field..
Have any of you come across such listing..?? Do share if you have..
Hi Waleed, thanks for forwarding me the copy of the bill of lading showing 2 shippers in the shipper field in the bill of lading.. I feel it is a very big risk taken by the NVOCC operator that has issued this bill of lading, brazenly showing the word SHIPPERS and two names.. As said, this is the first time I have seen such a bill..
When I mention risk, it would be in terms of who is the owner of the cargo and whose name does the customs documentation, commercial invoice, certificate of origin etc show..??
Very strange..
Hi Waleed, many thanks for this info.. This is the first time I have heard of this arrangement.. Well you learn something new everyday.. May I be bold enough to ask if you could forward me a copy of that bill of lading purely for my academic interest – to manaadiar@shippingandfreightresource.com.. Thanks for bringing it to everyone’s attention..
Hello There!
I have a consignment coming from Italy to UAE. Our forwarder collected two shipments from two different suppliers, which were both to be shipped to us. So they put both the supplier’s as shippers in the HBL and us as the consignee. We have in the past moved shipments this way and never had any clearance issues in UAE. So the shipper section of our B/L is:
1- Shipper abc
2- Shipper xyz
I’ve had several customers request this over the many years I’ve worked in this industry. In the past it was permissible however, in the last few years, it has become illegal per FMC regulations.
http://law.justia.com/cfr/title46/46-9.0.1.2.13.2.5.1.html (attached is reference to 46 CFR 530.8 and 9)
Also, many carriers will not allow this addition to MBL’s simply because whom ever the contract between the carrier and their customer is (freight forwarder or NVOCC) is who will show as the shipper. Many customers who WANT to show multiple shippers on the HBL and MBL are using a freight forwarder and want to show: VARIOUS COMPANIES ON Behalf Of ….
I dont’t think it’s possible.i have been 25 years in the industry and i did not come accross this.
If several shippers for one bl so it can be considered as LCL shipment. In this case carrier’s representative (surveyor) should be presented during container stuffing.
Shipper will be one only for one BL. Consignee / Notify can be multiple. As the original BL can be handed over to one single party and not multiple for bank transactions
Hello Everybody,
we had such experience, but we just asked our Forwarder to put its details in the “Shipper” field indicating:
XXXXXX as Agent of the Shippers XXXXXXXX and ZZZZZZZZ
Hi Alexander, there might be cases where multiple shippers are shipping to a single consignee.. In such cases, it is normal to issue split bills of lading for the same container..
The question posed by the reader about one bill with multiple shippers is not possible as far as i know, but i wanted to throw it out there for any other opinions..
As far as I am concerned, you can consign a shipment to only one party but you can have multiple notify parties as they are only being told of the shipment’s arrival. As far as shippers are concerned, how can more than one party ship a consignment? I feel it is not possible.