Recently I have followed an interesting discussion in Freight and Logistics Professionals group of Linkedin. The discussion has been opened by Mr. René Woestenburg and the topic is:
Did you ever read the backside ( risks, obligations, jurisdictions ) of you Bills of Lading.
The discussion attracted many interesting comments from various participants in the ocean transportation – freight forwarders, insurers, lawyers, shipowners, bankers etc.
One of the main points which has been commented was that today’s Terms of Carriage, risks, obligations and liabilities are outdated and do not properly reflect the new realities and relationships in the ocean transportation.
It seems that Carrier is not responsible for almost anything and one of the participants in the discussion has even made the statement that this is not the way to make a long term relationships.
From the other side however we should admit that the Carrier should consider many factors influencing the safety and security of vessel and that the voyage is subject to many unpredictable influences like whether, political situation and various legislation governing the carriage of goods by sea.
The most active and interesting comments were made by:
Bruce Serfass who did not saved the critics towards the insurance companies engaged in covering transportation risks.
Mr. John Daley has made a detailed explanation to the terms and the logic behind them.
Kay Nasseir who presented the bankers point of view.
Sushil Baboo who looked at the issue from shipowner’s viewpoint.
I hope this resume of the discussion to help you to find the most useful moments in it. This discussion makes you think about something which I am sure you rarely do when you ship freight – what are your rights as a customer and what are the responsibilities of all participants in the chain from your warehouse to your customer’s door.