.

from moral to professional ones. They are the

Company representatives on board, they repre-

sent the shipowners and their interests.

The Lesson Bearing deals with an important as-

pect which is often forgot on board: the mentor-

ing , an old learning technique that can help

seafarers gain important knowledge and experi-

ence about the job they are/will be called to do

on board the ship.

Good reading to everyone!

G. Mortola

Dear Premuda's fellows,

The first quarter of the year 2013 has just

passed and we are here again, with our usual

appointment.

We all do hope that the efforts made by the

whole Company, both on board and ashore, will

help us to improve and survive during this time:

business is always more and more complicated,

require attention and performances at high lev-

els. Competitors are more and more aggressive:

attention to safety, good quality of the service

provided and performances are the key factors

to remain competitive in this field.

The Bulletin is one among the means available

to the Company to assure something more than

the strict requirements is assured to the Custom-

ers. Through the Bulletin the Company shares

the lessons learned and important information

or experiences: it’s a way to improve our commit-

ment .

Briefly detailing this issue, with this edition the

Academic Lesson commences to deal also with

commercial issues: an excursus on the Bill of

Lading, history, meaning and importance is dealt

with and will be focused on next editions too.

The Safety section deals this time with an impor-

tant matter, which is often not well considered

on board: the Master’s role and figure.

Sometimes it’s not completely clear to Masters

that they are managers on board: they are com-

manders, managers and instructors, with huge

responsibilities, from commercial to legal ones,

The selected closed cases:

In this Issue:

• Vetting Issue s

• Safety issues: Master’s role and manager’s responsibili-ties

• Maritime Mentoring

• The Academic Lesson: excursus on B/L

Information Sharing Bulletin

is published by:

Premuda SpA - SQE Dept.

Email: sqe@premuda.net

Collection of selected

closed cases

Vetting Issues

Remarks to be shared

Lesson’s bearing

Academic lesson

Information Sharing Bulletin

Summary:

§ Hazardous occurrence

- unlabeled chemical products

www.premuda.net Be proactive!

Please, send any comment

to the Editor:

sqe@premuda.net

Lesson Learned

Issue n° 22

April 2013

.

Selected closed cases

Page 2

Selected closed cases

Page 2

.

Selected closed cases

Page 3

Selected closed cases

Page 3

. Pagina 4

Page 4

Vetting Issues

SIRE Reports performed during the period January — April

2013

Good day to all in the year 2013, even if we are already in

deep may!

As any year, Company starting on Vetting issue is always

problematic. By statistic observation normally we suffer

(read failure concentration) on beginning of the year and on

September/October.

In this first quarter we are here commenting main two

events:

Four Sky incident with loss of anchor and anchor

chain

Framura Shell SIRE probable failure/Wind Shell Sire.

******

Four Sky

The incident will be deeply explained in the dedicated sec-

tion, but just for information we will focus on Vetting side.

Company decided to declare about incident to BP, SHELL,

ADNOC with following logic: BP as attending the vessel for

performing SIRE inspection (so cancelled before starting),

SHELL and ADNOC as Terminal/Cargo interests.

These Oil Majors declared the vessel immediately in

“Technical Hold” before any further trading could be com-

mitted to vessel.

This is automatically creating a serious concern on respect

of possibility to employ the vessel commercially overcoming

the Class Condition received for three months time for clear-

ing the condition. At today 30/04 vessel is expected to com-

plete discharging in Balongang Indonesia and recover back

to Singapore where spares and actions are expected to

clear the issue.

******

Framura

At second point we are analyzing SHELL SIRE done on Fra-

mura/Four Wind.

Both performances have been under the Company Quality

target n 1, under repetition for the second year.

Four Wind

Performance has been affected by an extreme meticulous

attending SIRE Inspector, observing and noting even any

small thing but final clearance obtained, even if naturally

the vessel will be penalized by any third part screening!! And

next SIRE must be anticipated in order to establish an im-

provement tendency.

Framura

Performance affected by a PSC started just before the SIRE

inspection and creating not short matter in dealing with at

same time. At the moment the vessel is still operating in

account of SHELL (may be this could be the reason why they

are deleting the final vessel SIRE evaluation!!), but in my

opinion the final outcome will be a negative one, and this

will be a negative closing for a nice vessel— see the photo

of the lady on the next page—reaching soon the target 20

years life By M. Leveratto

***********

Let’s now analyze the MOC’s inspections carried out on

our Company managed vessels.

As usual, comments are below reported.

Four Bay

Vessel did not perform any SIRE Inspection during this

period. Chevron and ExxonMobil referring to last Shell

SIRE Report if necessary.

Next inspection to be performed with BHPB-Rightship

and/or Shell.

Framura

Vessel performed a SIRE Inspection with Shell, Geelong

04/03/2013 (16 NO), assessment not yet received. Chev-

ron and ExxonMobil referring to last Shell SIRE Report

available.

Due to vessel’s age limit (20 years) approaching next July

and age policy of Major Oil Companies no other inspection

will be performed until vessel will be sold.

Four Island

Vessel performed a SIRE Inspection with BHPB-Rightship,

Vadinar 02/03/2013 (7 NO) with positive result. Chevron

and ExxonMobil referring to last Shell SIRE Report if nec-

essary.

Next SIRE Inspection to be performed with BP, then with

Shell in order to renew approval after the negative result

of the last inspection performed on 1 Sept. 2012.

Four Moon

No SIRE Inspection performed during this period, next

inspection should be performed with PDVSA (no SIRE in-

spection).

Four Smile

Vessel performed a SIRE Inspection with Sunoco, Nether-

land, TX 20/02/2013 (5 NO) with positive result, then

vessel performed a terminal inspection (no SIRE) with

CEPSA, Huelva 21/03/2013 (9 NO) with positive result.

Chevron and ExxonMobil referring to last Shell SIRE Re-

port available.

Next inspection to be performed with Shell.

Four Wind

SIRE Inspection performed with Shell, Singapore

02/02/2013 (14 NO), with positive result. ExxonMobil

referring to last Shell SIRE Report available, as well as

Chevron.

. Pagina 5

Page 5

Vetting Issues

Next SIRE Inspection could be performed with Lukoil.

Four Sky

SIRE Inspection was requested to BP, but cancelled due to

anchor chain loss, which caused BP technical hold.

Chevron referring to last Shell SIRE Report if necessary as

well as ExxonMobil.

Next SIRE Inspection to be requested again to BP.

Bulk Carriers

Four Springs

No Inspection performed during this period ***********

Indications

Four Sky

Need to recover BP and Shell as soon as the chain and an-

chor will be fitted back. Probably will be submitted at BHPB

during next unloading.

Four Island

Need to clear SHELL after last failure, then others in order

to came out by the repair done December 2012, for which

we are still struggling

.

Remarks to be shared

Page 6

Dear All,

WELCOME INTO THE SAFETY PAGE!

Dears readers, in this bulletin I would

like treat the argument of Master’s role.

SAFETY : MASTER OF THE SHIP

MANAGER AND INSTRUCTOR

The master of the ship is the person on the board who has

the qualification and the necessary certificate of compe-

tency for running a maritime transport ship.

He is the one who takes the ship into administration from

the ship-owner, he is the only leader, the legal and direct

chief of the entire crew, being invested with authority upon

all the members of the crew.

The master fulfils the attributes and displays his activity

according to the legal laws of his flag, of the marine regula-

tions and of the international conventions. In all the rela-

tionships which he establishes with physical or juridical peo-

ple, the master represents the ship-owner, in a double con-

dition, as an officer and as a commercial manager.

In this paper, it is analyzed the situation of the ship mas-

ters, the relationships which these masters have with the

crew and the problems which appear during their voyage.

At the end of the paper there are proposed measures to

increase the quality of the training of the ship masters, to

solve the situations connected with the members of the

crew.

Key words: commander, manager, instructor, crew

The master of the ship leads the activity on board from the

operational and managerial point of view.

For protecting the goods and the interests of the hired peo-

ple on the board, the shipmaster has the right through the

national law (RSB, 1986) or that of the pavilion (IMO,

2009), to be the representative of the public authority, hav-

ing the following prerogatives: registrar, public notary, the

authority registering the crimes committed on board, etc.

He exercises the disciplinary and order authority on the ship

in tight connection with the obedience of the international,

national laws or the maritime regulations. He can take

measures on board against the crew members or against

the passengers.

Then when the ship is abroad, the shipmaster could ask the

support of the consular authorities or of the diplomatic mis-

sions of his country flag.

The hierarchical relations are established thus: he is subor-

dinate directly to the general manager of the company, to

the manager of the fleet, then to the responsible of the

exploitation and litigations department of the company; he

is subordinate to the state authorities of his flag as well as

to those coast and port states in which his ship enters.

He has in direct subordination the officers and the other

crew members as well as other person who is found on his

ship. All these aspects are encountered on the most mari-

time ships, no matter its flag.

The collaboration relations of the shipmaster are the fol-

lowing: with the responsible person for the economic de-

partment of the shipping company; with the responsible

person for the staff department; with the ship owners; with

the ship’s agents from the foreign ports; with the third ex-

ternal parties, in the limit of his competence. Other rela-

tions of the shipmaster in order to accomplish his powers

and tasks, as well as in the limit of his competence with

which he is invested or which he can establish for the col-

laboration with other different organs, national or interna-

tional companies refer to the issues relating to the mari-

time rescue, the protection of the marine environment, the

shipping safety, etc.

The competence of the shipmaster

On the board of the maritime commercial ship, he has the

following competence:

A) Of the technical kind (ISM).

The shipmaster exercises the disciplinary and order au-

thority on the ship, in relation with the obedience of the

laws and of the regulations including of those of the

coast and port states, being in the right of taking the

punitive measures which he considers necessary

against any person found on board. In exercising this

right he can ask the support of the Romanian diplomatic

or consular representatives, as well as of the foreign

port authorities. The shipmaster leads the ship on the

principle of command unity through order and written or

verbal disposals, direct contact with his subordinate

people, regulated signals. He has to prove professional-

ism and determination imposing on board a climate of

trust, collaboration and seriousness. The shipmaster

applies on his ship board, in the laws limit and opera-

tional regulations, the politics of the company regarding

the health protection, the work protection, the shipping

safety, the environment protection, into the safety man-

agement system.

B) Of the commercial kind

The shipmaster manages the ship in the conditions of

the actual commercial laws. He manages with maximum

responsibility the financial resources which he has at his

disposal. He takes care that the embarked staff should

get in time all the rights and he tries to make them inter-

.

Remarks to be shared

Page 7

ested in the good progress of the commercial exploita-

tion of the ship. These are split up in general responsibili-

ties, work tasks, prohibitions and especially relations

with the third parties. In the following, there will be pre-

sented and analysed some of the most important as-

pects connected with the activity of the shipmaster

The role of the master in motivating the personnel

The multitude of the responsibilities of the ship master, as

it results from the previous presentations, makes that he

should have a series of responsibilities. Among these, the

most important are the professional, the legal and the

moral ones. The professional and the legal ones are estab-

lished by the internal and international laws, but the moral

ones have another connotation during this century.

A) The professional responsibilities of the ship master.

It means that he must use all his knowledge and experience

to fulfill the attributes and the tasks of his position in ac-

cording with the ISM Code. The professional responsibilities

of a ship master can be grouped according to the following

criteria thus:

• Responsibilities regarding programming the current activi-ties on the board of the ship. Among these, the master

has in fact the responsibility of accomplishment, quantity

and quality, of the general and specific objectives which

derive from the transport contract. Besides this, an impor-

tant aspect is the conciliation of all activities with the real

possibilities of each member of the crew. Some of the

ship masters consider that each member of the crew then

when he arrives on board must be very well prepared and

from the first moment he must be able to solve the job

problems. In this context, it must be understood the as-

pects connected with the conciliation of the activities on

the board of the ship. Because of this, it is recommended

that a ship master should have access to all the files of

the crew members, which have to be put at his disposal

by the human resources department of the company or of

the crewing company, before the people’s arrival on the

board. The study of the crew’s files can help the master

very much in planning the activities and, in fact, he should

know who he could count on during the different activi-

ties, where it is necessary to display supplementary activi-

ties of training and of improvement of the officers and of

the sailors.

• Responsibilities regarding the organization for certain of the activities. This can lead to the accomplishment of the

main responsibility of the ship master. The way how it was

conceived the organizational frame and the functioning of

each department of the ship, in fact, the master is re-

sponsible for it. In this way, the responsibility of the mas-

ter must be the rational organization of the work on board

and of the watches so that he could ensure the mainte-

nance of a similar climate between the crew members.

• Responsibilities regarding the direct running of the ship and of the crew. The coordination refers especially to the

transmission by the subordinates of the decisions or in-

formation necessary to the conciliation and synchroniza-

tion of the efforts of all crew members. In the specific sea

conditions, of increasing the number of natural disasters,

of the legal restrictions and of the requests imposed by

the ship-owners, the responsibility of the assignment of

the tasks for each member of the crew gets new dimen-

sions, because the accomplishment of the tasks from the

board, not only it would put into danger the accomplish-

ment of the ship and of the company objectives, but also

it would have negative social implications, by the fact

that the wages can’t be paid anymore, the ship can be

arrested, etc.

• Responsibilities in the training field and of the subordi-nate’s motivation. The training supposes involving the

personnel in the accomplishment of the tasks of the

ship. The importance of this task is observed from the

fact that without the participation of the crew, the ship

can’t leave the port! Even though all have a contract that

they should respect, even though they know very well

their attributes, the people still have different problems

connected to their involving in activities. It means they

won’t involve reflexively in the accomplishment of the

objectives or of the work plans on the board. This means

that the process of participation of the crew members at

what the master wants to get from them is determined by

other factors, it means there is other competence which

can put a person into ”movement”. The training consists

thus in the action of the master of involving the crew so

that the system mechanism, the ship as a whole, could

work normally and get economical efficiency. This situa-

tion asks to the ship master a lot of will, tenacity, the

transmission of a certainty to all the members of the

crew in accomplishing the established tasks. Exercising

this position of management by the ship master it im-

poses a careful selection and training of the subordi-

nates, acting with an assembly of means through which

he can influence directly the members of the crew which

he runs, orientating his actions towards the wanted way.

Involving the components of a unit into its activity has as

a basic support the motivation, regarded in the whole

complexity of its elements.

• Responsibilities in the control field. Among the master attributes, those connected with the controls are the

most important and the clearest. The content and the

forms of its exercising are different, from a ship type to

another, according to the crew structure, the technical

characteristics of the ship, the transported goods, etc.

B) Legal responsibilities.

These were presented previously.

They come from the obligation of each ship and implicitly of

the whole crew to obey the legal stipulations of the flag

state, of the international maritime and port legislation, of

the transport contract, of the working contract, etc. Nowa-

days, the volume of documents and laws which must be

.

Remarks to be shared

Page 8

obeyed is very large, this having not only positive effects in

the way of protecting the interests of the crew or of the ship

-owner, but also negative ones, in the way of getting penal-

ties and sanctions which can appear.

Nowadays, the master of the ship hasn’t the right and he

can’t ignore the national and international legal stipula-

tions, their effects upon the ship, the crew and the naviga-

tion company.

Ignoring or minimizing these legal aspects can lead to very

serious effects, from stopping the ship from leaving, to ar-

resting or even putting the ship for sales.

C) The moral responsibility of the ship master.

Being the leader of the ship, he is the one who is morally

responsible for the physical integrity of the crew, for the

technical condition ship and for the respect of the transport

contract. This has to bring the ship into port and the sailor’s

safe home! This responsibility imposes to the master a dig-

nified behavior in his relationships with the crew members,

with the representatives of the company, with the authori-

ties and with the customers. If the crew members are re-

sponsible only for their own activities, the master is respon-

sible both for what he is doing personally and for what his

subordinates are doing. This has a determined role in en-

suring on board of a climate without tensions, of trust in

each sailor and officer, an important premise for the inte-

gral accomplishment and with quality of the attributes and

of the tasks received by the subordinates. The dignified

behavior of the master ensures him much more respect

and trust, these being useful in all the situations which can

appear on the board of a maritime ship.

The function of motivating the personnel has a great impor-

tance, first due to the displayed activities, of the dangers

due to the activity on the ships’ board, the requirements

imposed by the international organizations referring to the

organization of the activities, the payment of the wages,

insurance in cases of disasters, etc.

The master of the ship = manager and instructor of the

crew

Nowadays the master of the ship besides the fact that he

must be a manager in the real sense of the word he must

become an instructor of the board crew. Even if his time is

very short, even if he has a lot of tasks to solve, he still has

to deal with the training of the sailors and of the young offi-

cers, of his subordinates. Why do I insist on the phrase

”master = instructor”? Because it is the only way to succeed

in obtaining superior results from his crew. Through instruc-

tion and continuing trainings the master can succeed what

family, school, university and society in its assembly didn’t

succeed.

To help to grow up the young graduates, cadets, officers at

their first voyages, even the executive officer. His experi-

ence on the sea is much more important than an entire

drawer with specialized literature. On the one hand, be-

cause he has not too much time at his disposal, as a

teacher has in order to teach a lot of notions to his stu-

dents, on the other hand he will aim to orientate his subor-

dinates to study, to train themselves and to prepare for the

most important professional aspects.

For this, first he must prove a lot of patience (Daniels,

2007). ”Patience is a lost virtue?” As this states ”patience

comes along with the age”, although the youngest master

ever on the big ships, which go on the seas and the oceans

of the world, can be less over 30 years old and an experi-

ence minimum of 5 years on sea. Is it much or little? Any-

way during 5 years a person can grow up very much, he

can even change completely, in a positive way. Even

though he would have in his crew people who are older and

the young master can become their instructor. What does it

mean exactly to be the instructor of the crew?

Firstly, the master is obliged to plan and to execute a se-

ries of exercises of alarming the crew for critical situations:

man over board, fire, explosion, wreck, water hole, etc, in

according with the ISM Code. Following the way these exer-

cises are done is like a real content of situations which can

be analyzed and interpreted later by the master. The con-

clusions which he will obtain will represent a real “feed-

back” for each member of the crew. Secondly, the com-

pany can ask him in advance to respect a training program

for the cadets and for the young officers.

In the following, there are imposed the following measures

of instruction and improvement of the officers:

For the executive officer:

Apparently, the executive officer is the best-trained person

after the master. But it happens that he can come from

other types of ships, that he shouldn’t have worked with

that type of goods which the ship was going to transport.

The mixed crews, used today all over the world, determine

the existence of a great movement of the officers of any

degrees, at different ships as a profile or which transport

different goods. At many ships, the attributes of the execu-

tive officer are connected with the maneuvering of the

goods and the drawing up of the documents.

The ship master is the one who guides them and follows

their activity, helps them there where he encounters diffi-

culties. The master experience in maneuvering the goods is

a real help for the executive officer.

An often situation is that connected with the ship docu-

ments work, which the master knows very well and through

what he is going to ask to the executive officer, he obliges

him, in fact, to know and even to work with these kinds of

documents.

.

Lesson’s Bearing

Page 9

MENTORING AT SEA

PREAMBLE - Maritime mentoring is an

age -old learning technique that can

help seafarers gain important on-the-

job knowledge and experience, but

modern working practices threaten to

force it into obscurity.

The number of minutes it should take to communi-The number of minutes it should take to communi-The number of minutes it should take to communi-The number of minutes it should take to communi-

cate a simple piece of mentoring that could still cate a simple piece of mentoring that could still cate a simple piece of mentoring that could still cate a simple piece of mentoring that could still

have a significant impacthave a significant impacthave a significant impacthave a significant impact

Mentoring in the maritime industry has a long heritage and has played a vital role in nur-

turing inexperienced cadets and helping them rise up the ranks to become the maritime

leaders of today.

Unlike more formalized theoretical approaches to training learned in maritime school,

mentoring allows the informal passing on of experiential knowledge not written down in

manuals, procedures or policies from one person to another.

If embedded effectively throughout an organization, this shared knowledge can cascade

down from senior officers to junior officers and cadets, ultimately creating a more skilled,

competent and confident workforce. But the practice of mentoring is on the decline be-

cause of the nature of the modern working environment, where opportunities for seafar-

ers to form and sustain mentoring relationships are limited and reduced sea time require-

ments between certificates of competency reduce opportunities for on-the-job learning.

These problems are compounded by increasing work pressures, limited free time and the

different languages spoken by crews.

Despite these barriers, maritime education experts are striving to demonstrate that men-

toring can still be a relevant learning tool on board vessels and, if integrated into a daily

onboard routine, a simple piece of mentoring can take less than 10 minutes but still have a

significant impact. Meanwhile, individuals with little or no time to spare could benefit

from advanced internet-based e-mentoring that permits remote learning in their spare

time.

Mentoring is almost as old as seafaring itself!

.

Lesson’s Bearing

Page 10

Mentoring is most often defined as a professional relationship in which an experienced

person (the mentor) assists another (the mentee) in developing specific skills and knowl-

edge intended to enhance the latter’s professional and personal growth.

A mentor is often an older, more experienced person, although that’s not a requirement,

and therefore able to guide, support and inspire mentees, providing guidance and helping

them recognize their abilities and to grow in wisdom and independence.

The benefits of mentoring are deep and varied. It can contribute greatly to skill develop-

ment, can help individuals navigate career path choices and understand what it takes to

advance and perform can even lead to a reduction in accidents and incidents. Mentoring

also provides individuals with an insider’s view of the industry not otherwise available.

Being a mentor can be personally satisfying and can help masters or senior officers build

their confidence and expand their professional networks.

Qualities that make someone an effective mentor might include the skill to listen closely

and understand what mentees are asking.

Anyone can become a mentor, as long as is interested in passing on its knowledge and has

confidence in its own abilities. Mentoring is simply the transfer of knowledge without des-

ignated reward. If a person passes on a single piece it makes them a mentor.

In today’s industry, opportunities to mentor junior crew are becoming rarer. This is due, in

part, to the small size of most crews, the diversity of languages spoken on board, and the

fact that potential mentors are, more and more, burdened with paperwork and other ac-

tivities.

But these obstacles need not stand in the way of effective mentoring. Mentoring activities

can be incorporated into typical daily onboard routines.

If a chief officer is drawing up a cargo plan, why not let the second mate do it instead as an

understudy, not as a test but as a mentoring exercise carried out together. This won’t take

up any more of the chief officer’s time as he has to perform the task anyway.

Similarly, if a second mate is preparing the passage plan, he/she could ask the third mate

to do it under supervision, or a master could give a third mate a first experience of steer-

ing a ship while standing close by to offer support or intervene if he/she does something

wrong.

Indeed, there are many opportunities for mentoring at any time during a voyage. If a mas-

ter has just successfully navigated through a storm, why not discuss it with the crew after-

wards. They might be interested to learn how he kept the ship safe.

That’s the way the long tradition of maritime mentoring can survive, and could provide an

important new tool to pass on to the next generation of aspiring seafarers.

. Pagina 11

Page 11

The Academic Lesson

BILLS OF LADINGS

Thousand of pages have been devoted to

the subject of Bills of Lading (B/L).

With this Bulletin and the ones which will

follow, we will try to present a general

overview and to highlight B/L practices that are primarily

applicable to the dry bulk and to the tanker trades.

The subject of the Bill of Lading is closely linked with the

Carriage of Good by Sea Acts of various countries and with

the Hague, or Hague—Visby Rules.

While the subject of Bills of Lading is already complicated

enough, there is no escape describing their important func-

tion in connection with documentary Letters of Credit (L/C).

A Bill of Lading has basically three functions:

1. it’s a receipt for the cargo delivered to the ship

2. it’s a contract of carriage, spelling out the transporta-

tion terms and conditions;

3. It’s a negotiable instrument and a document of title if

the BL is made out:

- To the order of....

- Unto order of...

- To...... Company or orders of

- To consignee.... Company or order

- Consigned to ..... Company or order

Brief history

For hundred of years, before modern means of communi-

cations, ship captains were sent overseas to trade with

merchants in other countries. Initially a ship would show up

at a particular harbour and the crew would announce they

were ready to receive cargo for another port.

Later on, when trade had developed on a regular basis and

after trading houses had set up shop overseas, a captain

would issue a B/L to a local merchant for the goods re-

ceived. The B/L represented symbolic ownership of the

actual goods.

While in the old days the B/L would usually arrive before

the ship, nowadays the ship often arrives before the B7L

has made its way through the banking system. This creates

problems, since the captain is only allowed to deliver the

cargo against presentation of an original B/L. If the “order”

B/L is not available and the captain delivers the cargo

without it, and later on a genuine B/L holder shows up, the

shipowner is legally obliged to indemnify the B/L holder for

the full value of the cargo... and this costs millions of dol-

lars... Obviously there are several options for the owner to

protect himself against the consequence of delivery of

cargo without presentation of a B/L.

In the airline industry planes almost arrive before the B/L

does. However, there is no need to produce a B/L, because

airlines issue an Air Waybill, instead of an “order” B/L (a

document of title).

The difference between an “order” B/L and a Waybill is that

the latter one is non-negotiable: it is just a receipt and a

contract of carriage and not a document of title. It cannot

be traded to somebody else.

When a waybill is made out to a particular consignee, all the

carrier has to do is verify the identity of the consignee and

the goods will be delivered. Upon proper identification, the

carrier no longer bears responsibility for the value of the

goods; other than, perhaps, a claim for damage or shortage.

A B/L with the following characteristics is a Waybill:

• When the B/L does not contain the words “to order” or similar language

• When a B/L—before it is signed—is clearly marked NON NEGOTIABLE

• A straight or named B/L is kind of a hybrid between an “order” B/L and a Waybill.

A lot of oil cargoes are nowadays traded based on sale and

purchase contracts, where title passes when the cargo is

loaded or delivered. This way, passing of title is no longer

tied to actual possession of B/L.

Selected by P. Linari

.

Visit our web at:

Www.premuda.net

Premuda, founded in 1907, is one of the most expe-

rienced shipping Company with the mission of tran-

sporting oil and dry-bulk cargoes.

The Company operates also in the FPSO market.

Premuda holds the most qualified certifications in

Safety, Environmental protection, Quality and Secu-

rity standards.

Premuda S.p.A

Via Fieschi 3/21

I—16121, Genova

Tel.: +39 010 5444.421

Fax: +39 010 5444.313

E-mail: sqe@premuda.net

There are no shortcuts to

safety, and everyone has to

contribute