“How do I know the bill of lading issued is a House Bill of Lading or Master Bill of Lading? Is it mentioned anywhere on the bill of lading that it is a House Bill or a Master Bill?”
I really love such basic but curious questions from the readers because it rejuvenates the gray matter..
First, let’s examine the definitions of a few entities that will be involved in the explanation of this answer..
1) Shipping Line: a company engaged in the process of shipping cargo from Point A to Point B.. When operated on established routes and schedules, the operation is known as “Liner Shipping“..
A shipping line may or may not own or operate the ship that they load the cargo on.. The ship could be owned by X (known as Ship Owner) and operated by Y (known as Ship Operator) because either X doesn’t have the capability to operate the ship but has the money to invest in it or doesn’t want the responsibility of operating it and is only interested in the revenues generated..
2) Slot Charterer: an actual shipping line that may belong to a consortium, alliance or service but may not be operating a ship on that service.. Instead, the slot charterer chooses to buy a certain amount of “slots” (space on board a ship) from the principal ship operator on every ship.. These “slots” may or may not be fixed for a voyage or for the duration of the consortium.. Read What is the difference between Slot Charterer and NVOCC Operator..??
3) Freight Forwarder: a multi-function agent/operator who undertakes to handle the movement of goods from point to point on behalf of the cargo owner.. The essence of freight forwarding is to ensure that the cargo is picked up from the seller and delivered to the buyer at the required place, at the right price, and in the same condition that it is picked up from the origin using the most suitable resources and routing possible.. Read Who is a Freight Forwarder..??
4) NVOCC Operator: an entity that is in certain areas accorded the status of a virtual “carrier” and in certain cases accepts all liabilities of a carrier.. An NVOCC can and sometimes do own and operate their own or leased containers..
In certain countries like the USA, the NVOCC operators are required to file their tariffs with the government regulatory bodies (like FMC) and create a public tariff.. Read Who is an NVOCC Operator and the difference between a freight forwarder and NVOCC..
Why am I giving this whole long story in response to a simple question..?? It is because all these above-mentioned entities are capable of issuing their own bills of lading and the bills of lading they issue can be either an HBL (House Bill of Lading) or an MBL (Master Bill of Lading) depending on who is issuing it..
Now for the answer to the question – None of the bills of lading issued by any of the above entities will state anywhere whether it is a House Bill of Lading or Master Bill of Lading..
Bills of lading only display whether it is a Sea-Way Bill, Combined Transport Bill of Lading, or Port-to-Port Bill of Lading as per the below examples from a few of the leading shipping lines..
So how to differentiate between a House Bill of Lading and a Master Bill of Lading
The most common way of distinguishing whether a bill of lading is an HBL or an MBL would be to see who the carrier mentioned on the Bill of Lading is.. You can see this either from the logo of the carrier or where the carrier signs the bill of lading..
Alphaliner provides a constantly updated ranking of the 100 largest container/liner operators taking into account the fleets of virtually almost all container liner operators worldwide.. Take a look at the latest updated ranking of container shipping liners..
If a bill of lading is issued by any of the lines mentioned in the list, it is safe to assume that it would be an MBL as these are liner operators and cover the majority of the world’s containerized cargo..
What are the scenarios under which an HBL is issued and who issues them..?? :
HBL may be issued by a Consolidator (Groupage Operator) – A Consolidator books an FCL with the shipping line and once the cargo is packed, they issue their own HBLs to their clients and collect the MBL from the shipping line..
HBL may be issued by an NVOCC Operator or Freight Forwarder who handles the cargo on behalf of their clients.. These entities also issue their HBL and collect the MBL from the shipping line..
When an HBL is issued for a shipment, normally a hierarchy is followed.. When filing a manifest with customs (especially for Groupage or Consolidation cargo), the entity issuing the MBL (shipping line) will have to file their manifest first making reference to the different HBLs issued under the MBL.. The manifest containing all the HBLs issued under the MBL is then filed with customs making reference to the MBL..
Read this previous article Difference between House Bill of Lading & Master Bill of Lading to understand the documentary differences between an HBL and MBL..
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