P&I Publications

The present briefing is intended to provide all interested parties with the general thoughts and required guidance relating to the dealing with the discrepancies between vessel and shore figures at a port of loading and on the utilization of the protest letters in such circumstances. The content of the publication comprises of the practical guidance followed by the fundamental theoretical information.

The practical guidance starts with the explanation of the insistence on the shore figures by the shippers and charterers. The major issue for the Masters when their vessel and shore figures are not matching during the loading of the liquid cargo is to make a decision on whether he could issue a truly honest bill of lading, i.e. the one not deceiving the receivers of the cargo into thinking that they are getting something that the vessel is not actually able to deliver.

The vitally important decision for the Master in these cases is to decide if the discrepancy lies within the acceptable margin. If so, then either of the figures can be correct. Issuing the bill of lading with the figures known to be false or the ones where the Master does not believe in their truth, would mean issuing a dishonest bill of lading. And, the definition of the acceptable margin varies from one loading to another, according to the particular circumstances and facts...

The content of this booklet is arranged in two big parts - the first part provides necessary instructions for the carriage of the refrigerated cargoes and the second part is dedicated to the transportation of the frozen fish by reefers. The refrigerated cargoes are commonly perishable to some degree and their safe transportation mainly depends on maintaining the proper storage conditions in the course of the transportation.

This equally applies to all transportation modes and all refrigerated cargoes, though the conditions are considered much more critical for the long journeys and perishable commodities. These cargoes would normally include chilled and frozen goods, including fresh fruits/vegetables. The frozen goods generally will not suffer in case of over-cooling while chilled goods can easily get damaged by the low temperature. Successful transportation of the chilled and frozen goods seriously depends on the correct carriage instructions, defining the technical conditions for the transportation.

Should the carriage instructions be wrong, inadequate, incomplete or contradictory then the problems can definitely be expected, including the risk of cargo loss and subsequent claims. The way of stowing the cargo is also very important for the safe and successful transportation, however this volume is mainly concentrated on the carriage instructions themselves...

The correct, satisfactory and adequate securing and stowage of the cargo are of critical importance for the overall safety of the ship's crew, the ship, and the cargo itself. If the cargo is not properly stowed and secured, taking into account the time of the year and the intended voyage, subject cargo may easily get shifted from its original position and start moving, potentially sustaining serious damage and also causing the damage to the vessel and even endanger the human lives.

The content of the present LP Guide is intended to take the readers through some fundamental practical rules that shall be remembered by all people involved in cargo operations during each loafing and securing of the cargo; it clearly describes where they can found all relevant rules and regulations, general industry recommendations and required guidance, as well as the recommended established methods that shall be used for specific cargo items; it also provides readers with the necessary guidance related to the points to remember during the planning of the passage and during the passage itself.

The authors of the volume has set out the fundamentals and give the references to the documents providing the rules to follow. The Guide contains lot of the useful information, e.g. relating to the calculation of the lashings, taken from the relevant Codes, but only those considered essential to make the text clearly understood...

Some twenty years ago, a simple questionnaire was issued by the North of England P&I Association asking for their practical experiences related to the issue of the Bills of Lading together with the subsequent delivery of the cargoes against them. The answers received were analyzed and revealed numerous specific problems setting the recurring theme, namely the disagreements between the shore and ship's figures, pressure on the ship master to issue clean document, agents signing the bills of lading with no reference to the receipts from the mate or exceeding their authority, and requests for the cargo delivery with no original bill of lading produces.

The present guide starts with some brief introductory information about the bills of lading. In most of the international transactions where the cargoes are to be transported by sea, the seller promises to do two major things - the first thing is to place the goods on board a vessel, and the second thing is to provide all commercial documents that are required by the contract in place - and the central of those documents is commonly the bill of lading. The Master of the vessel describes the apparent order and condition of the cargo received on board. In some cases the Master is pressed to hide the information that would make the bill of lading look less attractive to the buyers...