BILL OF LADING

Types of Bill of Lading

Multimodal Transport Bill of Lading or Multidoc 95

(See also the comments made by Bimco by clicking here)

A Multimodal Transport Bill of Lading (MULTIDOC 95) is a bill of lading involving both sea and other transport modes but, with different carriers involved at each stage, e.g. another shipping company, a road haulier, a railway company, an air transport company, an inland shipping company, etc. The multimodal transport bill of lading is issued by the sea carrier and he states on it that he will be responsible for the goods during the entire period of transport.

See the face of the Multidoc 95:

"The MTO, in accordance with and to the extend of the provisions contained in this MT Bill of Lading, and with liberty to sub-contract, undertakes to perform and/or in his own name to procure performance of the multimodal transport and the delivery of the goods, including all services related thereto from the place and time of taking the goods in charge to the place and time of delivery and accepts responsibility for such transport and such services".

Article 1 of the United Nations Convention on International Multimodal Transport of Goods (Geneva, 24 May 1980) gives of multimodal transport the following definition:

"International multimodal transport" means the carriage of goods by at least two different modes of transport on the basis of a multimodal transport contract from a place in one country at which the goods are taken in charge by the multimodal transport operator to a place designated for delivery situated in a different country. The operations of pick-up and delivery of goods carried out in the performance of a unimodal transport contract, as defined in such contract, shall not be considered as international multimodal transport."

Clause 1, Applicability, of Bimco's Multidoc B/L states that the provisions of the contract shall apply irrespective of whether there is a unimodal or a Multimodal Transport Contract involving one or several modes of transport. The multimodal transport bill of lading may, consequently also be used for direct shipment or port to port shipment.

Multimodal transport is as a consequence a contract for the carriage of goods e.g. from one harbour to another with transshipment of the goods in a intermediate harbour or, for the carriage of goods from a place inland, by rail or waterway, to a harbour where the goods are then transshipped onto a sea-going vessel with another harbour as its destination or to that harbour's hinterland. The multimodal transport bill of lading is consequently used for a combination of "inland freight" and "ocean freight".

A multimodal transport bill of lading can also be used to avoid expensive canal dues (e.g. the Panama Canal dues). For instance, goods coming from Antwerp and bound for San Francisco, can be carried to a harbour in the Gulf of Mexico and there be transshipped to be further carried by rail to a harbour in the Pacific and from there, shipped again to Frisco.

A multimodal transport bill of lading may be issued for the carriage of goods from one harbour to another harbour or place with which there is no fast or direct connection, for instance from Antwerp to Roseau (Dominica). The goods will first be carried to Fort de France (Martinique) according to the agreement made with the first carrier and in accordance with the bill of lading delivered by the first carrier. In Fort de France, the master (in fact his agent) will deliver the goods for further transportation to Roseau, to the agent (eventually the master) of the second ship, who will then carry the goods in accordance with the clauses of the bill of lading issued by the shipping company.

The agent of the second carrier delivers to the agent of the first carrier a "Agent's Receipt" or a "Master Receipt", or as the case may be, a "Received for shipment" with or without remarks re the conditions of the goods. This document allows one to determine the exact period of each carrier's responsibility.

A "Shipped Bill of Lading" cannot be delivered, as long as the goods have not been transshipped on the second vessel. The multimodal transport bill of lading is send directly to the final place of destination of the goods.

The multimodal transport bill of lading can be issued as a negotiable bill of lading or as a non negotiable bill of lading.

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