Ship transportation. Shipping. What cargo can we deliver by sea?

At the moment, sea transportation is the cheapest way to transport cargo, but at the same time the most time-consuming, but this fact is easily offset by a clear schedule for the vessel’s arrival at the port. Thus, if there is no strong time constraint, it is possible to minimize the costs of transporting goods.

The carrying capacity of modern ships is higher aviation , automotive And railway transport, thanks to this, international sea transportation is the most profitable way to transport large-sized and bulky cargo.

Sea transportation is quite often used when there is no alternative logistics to deliver the cargo, while air transportation is impractical due to its high cost. This type of goods transportation is often used when intermodal transport .

"Russian Brokerage Company" is ready to deliver cargo from door to door (Door to door), while developing the optimal route for sea transport, minimizing cargo delivery time, organizing multimodal transportation , minimize your transport costs, customs clearance And certification .

At the Client’s request, during loading (in case of export) and unloading (in case of import) of goods, our manager will personally control this process, thereby saving your time. Initially it was for automobile transport, there is no port in Moscow, and traveling to St. Petersburg or Novorossiysk is not cheap, and unloading will be like at a port. The main rule for us is that the client is satisfied with our services, so all your instructions for transporting goods will certainly be taken into account and followed.

Russian Brokerage Company LLC is a team of professionals who know their business very well!

Trust the professionals and save your time, money, and nerves!

International maritime transport of goods: advantages, documents, organization

Sea transportation has not lost its relevance and demand for centuries. This method of transporting goods is the most optimal for international transport.

International maritime transport of goods has a number of advantages:

• economy (this type of transportation is considered the cheapest)
• possibility of transportation of any types and types of cargo: bulk, solid, flammable, fragile
• minimal risk of cargo damage
• the ability to service cargo (goods) en route, as in a regular warehouse

For maritime transport purposes, the following types of transport are used:

• dry cargo ships – for transporting bulk cargo, cars
• timber trucks – for transporting lumber, round timber, coal, grain
• bulk carriers – for transportation of bulk cargo
• container ships – for transportation of general cargo
• tankers – for transporting oil, petroleum products, liquefied gas
• ferries – for passenger transport and land vehicles

Container ships now occupy a leading position in international sea freight. Containers with cargo are placed in the holds and on the deck of the ship. During loading, special attention is paid to securely securing it. Special port equipment is used to load and unload containers.

As a rule, the cargo that is inside the container is delivered to the port by road or rail. And then it is loaded onto the ship using cranes and sent to the destination port.

Documents in the field of maritime transport:

• Bill of lading is a document confirming ownership of goods
• Sea waybill is one of the types of transport bills
• Dock receipt is a special form that is issued to the shipper by a sea carrier after the cargo has been received at the port.
• Delivery order - carrier's receipt for cargo
• Navigator's receipt - proof of receipt of a bill of lading from the carrier, which is issued after loading the goods on board the ship
• Warehouse certificate - a document certifying that the cargo was accepted for temporary storage after its arrival at the destination (port warehouse)

Organization of maritime transport: legal aspects

The efficiency of maritime transport is directly related to its competent organization. International maritime transport of goods includes several sectors: forwarding, cargo storage, loading and unloading, ship supply, customs clearance.

Participants in maritime transport are: seller and buyer, shipowners, forwarders, insurance companies, charterers and charterers. Clear implementation of the functions of each individual industry in the field of maritime transportation allows us to ensure high safety of cargo and its fast delivery to the recipient.

PJSC Sovfracht carries out sea and river transportation of goods, charters ships, performs brokerage and intermediary operations, using its own and leased fleet; provides ship agency services, cargo insurance, transports oversized and.

PJSC Sovfracht carries out cargo transportation all over the world. Carrying out the functions, the company takes upon itself the organization of door-to-door service, including within the framework of EPC contracts. Sovfracht guarantees the continuity, technological and economic efficiency of the entire cargo transportation process.

Cargo transportation by sea and river transport, despite all the complexity of its organization, remains the most popular type of cargo transportation because of its obvious benefits over other types of cargo transportation.

• more than 200 ship calls to 47 ports of the world are provided annually by Sovfracht PJSC
• 1.75 million passengers were transported by Sovfracht PJSC in 2017.
• 360 thousand cars and 78 thousand trucks transported in 2017
• 150 thousand tons of cargo were transported in the Arctic in 2015-2017.
• 57 units of our own, operated and controlled fleet

Advantages of transportation by water transport

1. This service is quite in demand due to the ability to transport a large volume of cargo of different purposes and dimensions.
2. Delivery of goods by water has the lowest cost compared to road and rail. and air transportation.
3. Water transport is the only option for transportation between islands, difficult-to-reach territories and continents.
4. Another advantage is the historically established unified interstate legal and legal field.
5. Transportation by sea is characterized by its versatility and reliability. Guaranteed safety of cargo is one of the factors when choosing this type of cargo transportation. In most cases, containers are used for transportation, which protect goods from damage and weather conditions and prevent intruders from entering.

River and sea transportation of goods

Sea and river transportation of goods is a type of transportation that allows you to move large and heavy cargo over long distances without loss of quality and in the most economical way.

PJSC Sovfracht has been providing sea and river transportation services for more than 80 years,ship agency and cargo insurance both within Russia and internationally. The company carries out water transportation in its own and chartered tonnage. The company specializes in the operation of:

• river-sea class vessels,
• handy-size bulk carriers,
• sea ​​vessels of the coaster class.

The age of the vessels is maintained at an optimal level due to the stable and consistent renewal of the company's fleet.

Freight transportation by water transport accounts for the majority of all cargo moved in the world. With it you can transport anything:

• liquid cargo: liquefied gas, crude oil and petroleum products, liquid products of the chemical industry;

• bulk cargo: sand, coal, cement, mineral fertilizers;

• various equipment, cars;
• rolled metal;
• timber and lumber;
• groupage cargo;
• oversized and so on.

International sea transport

GC "Sovfracht" carries out international maritime transport ie transport transportation.

Our services:

• We transport cargo of any type, liquid, bulk, large, heavy, requiring special storage conditions;
• We transport cargo both by our own and leased sea transport;
• We regularly update our fleet, maintaining it in optimal condition for operation;
• We use individual logistics schemes developed for each customer, this allows us to optimize routes and reduce transportation costs;
• we prepare customs documents and declarations in different countries, including the declaration of dangerous goods;
• We provide customs clearance services for goods in Russia and in the recipient country;
• We organize cargo insurance;
• We organize informing clients about the progress of cargo.

PJSC "Sovfracht-Sevmortrans" has its own warehouses, , auxiliary marine fleet, specialized equipment, therefore provides a full range of services for chartering, bunkering, and stevedoring services.

Advantages of sea freight transportation from Sovfracht

1. The company has been transporting by sea for decades. Our accumulated experience allows us to confidently take on tasks of any complexity. Our specialists are able to anticipate and prevent various situations so that the cargo entrusted by our clients is delivered to its destination on time and without loss of quality and quantity.
2. We provide all possible assistance in preparing the necessary documents in accordance with the rules and regulations for the transportation of goods by water. We will prepare customs documents necessary for smooth border crossing when carrying out international cargo transportation.
3. To minimize the costs of our customers, we will calculate the most successful route, select the appropriate freight for sea transportation, convenient options and methods of payment.
4. With the help of an established electronic tracking system, we can report to the customer at any time about the location of his goods. We insure the cargo and are responsible for it to the client.
5. To facilitate the shipper’s task, we will carry out loading and unloading operations, delivering the container to the loading site, and reloading it onto another vehicle.
6. Our company provides comprehensive modal transportation and can facilitate the client’s task of selecting suitable transport to deliver cargo to its destination, reducing downtime at these stages of travel.
7. We fruitfully cooperate with ports in different countries, shipping lines, and have reliable local representatives to provide a high level of service and maintain competitive prices in the field of sea and river cargo transportation.

CARGO TRANSPORTATION BY SEA FROM THE COMPANY PJSC "SOVFRACHT" - FAST AND PROFITABLE

PJSC Sovfracht has extensive experience in transportationcargo by water transport in the Russian Federation and abroad. The company fully undertakes the development and implementation of the transport and logistics transportation process. PJSC Sovfracht owns a unique pontoon barge"Damen River Star 3".

Possessing unique competencies in the field of loading and unloading operations in the Arctic, Sovfracht PJSC provides more than 50% of all Russian cargo operations in this region. As a member of the First Arctic Consortium of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the company takes part in the development of logistics schemes, tariffication of routes, increasing the safety of navigation and maintaining the environmental situation in the Arctic. The company is also the operator of the world's only nuclear-powered lighter-container carrier Sovmorput.

Cargo transportation by sea is popular in the international transport services market. Sea transportation is unrivaled in its efficiency among other types of cargo transportation when delivering large quantities of goods over long distances.

In some cases, when there is no land connection between the points of departure and destination, delivery of goods by water remains the only possible option for transporting goods.

We transport cargo by sea for you

The Credo Trans company has been operating in the international sea freight market since 2008. It has its offices in St. Petersburg, Moscow and Novorossiysk.

We have established mutually beneficial partnerships and entered into direct agreements with agents of all major shipping lines: APL, CMA CGM, COSCO, China Shipping, Evergreen, MAERSK, MSC, OOCL, etc.

An alternative to choosing a shipping company allows you to carry out sea delivery of goods with the greatest benefit and efficiency.

International sea freight covers only part of the transport chain for import-export movements of goods. For cargo owners who value their time and nerves, Credo Trans offers turnkey delivery of sea cargo.

A comprehensive package of services includes the work required for door-to-door delivery:

International shipping routes connect ports of countries from 5 regions of the world. We offer sea freight transportation to 27 popular destinations between ports St. Petersburg, Ust-Luga, Novorossiysk and ports of countries in other regions:

• - SEA (Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, India);
• - North America (, Mexico);

To expand our sea freight transportation service, we deliver container cargo through the Finnish port of Kotka.

Credo Trans provides customers with reliable information about the cargo at any time along the route. Daily control of cargo movement and the availability of managers for communication lay the foundation for successful transport logistics for our clients.

Shipping tariffs

The company's operational department monitors changes weekly

The development of economic ties with the Asian region increases the load on shipping lines. The bulk is carried out on board ships. No less popular destinations are China, Vietnam, and India. These countries have become the largest suppliers of electronics, household goods, industrial equipment and food. Sea freight transportation allows for the delivery of large consignments of goods with virtually no restrictions on tonnage.

To ensure that fragile cargo reaches the recipient without damage, appropriate packaging is selected. Safe shipping, as well as other goods classified as perishable, is carried out in refrigerated or thermally insulated containers.

Large and heavy cargo (weighing more than 35 tons) is transported by sea cargo ships - ro-ro vessels (vessels for wheeled vehicles), dry cargo ships. Focusing on the recipient's region, sea transportation is organized through European (Germany, Baltic) or Russian ports. carried out to the large Far Eastern port “Vostochny”, Nakhodka and the Baltic “St. Petersburg”.

International sea freight transport is regulated by the Brussels Convention. According to it, it is necessary to correctly draw up a bill of lading or a charter agreement (to fully load the vessel). Oversized and bulky cargo is delivered on board using special equipment. It must be labeled and packaged (protruding and fragile parts) appropriately. When fastening, the influence of weather conditions and the pitching of the vessel are taken into account.

Organization of sea transportation

Depending on the tasks and type of cargo, vessels with suitable characteristics are selected. Sea transportation has several main forms:

1. Liner shipping – transportation services between specific ports are provided on a regular basis. Lines can be one-way, owned by one country or company, common - served by several shipping companies, and conference lines. The latter option is organized for ocean lines used by several countries or shipping companies. Advantages of the form: stable schedule and prices, wide agent network.
2. Trump shipping is irregular shipping used to move certain types of cargo. The main part of the vessels is universal; they can transport general and bulk cargo.

Various types of vessels are used in maritime transport:

Ro-Ro vessels are similar in appearance to ferries and can be unloaded horizontally. They are used when transporting cars and goods on Euro pallets.

Dry cargo ships – used for the transportation of piece goods, suitable for heavy but small-sized goods.

Container ships - a characteristic feature is an open area above the holds, designed to accommodate containers. The holds are equipped with guides for securing containers.

Advantages of sea freight transportation

Sea freight transportation has several undoubted advantages over other modes of transport:

1. Affordable rates.
2. Possibility of transporting oversized and heavy cargo, large quantities of goods.
3. Safety. Goods are under control during loading and transportation. allow you to optimize the movement of cargo between vehicles and protect it from external influences.

A foreign trade operation includes several interrelated legal components, without any of which it cannot be implemented. These are purchase and sale agreements, transportation agreements, or freight forwarding agreements, insurance and financing agreements. This article attempts to reveal the features documentation support as one of the types of transport expedition(along with rail, air, road, mixed).

In the process of organizing the maritime transportation of goods, many specialized participants are involved, representing entire individual industries in the field of forwarding, cargo storage (owners of port warehouses), loading and unloading operations and compliance with port and customs formalities (stevedores, port agents and brokers), ship supply (ship chandlers) and bunkerers), etc. In addition to the seller and buyer entering into a purchase and sale agreement providing for sea transportation, an important role belongs to shipowners, charterers and charterers, forwarders, and insurance companies (the role of financial institutions requires separate consideration). All these participants, to one degree or another, are involved in servicing the trade contract, are connected by a system of contracts that distribute functions and responsibility for their implementation between the parties.
First, a few words should be said about what maritime cargo transportation is currently.
Depending on the type of cargo Traditionally, three main methods of sea transportation of goods have been identified: bulk or bulk carriers(transportation of bulk materials - mineral fertilizers, coal, etc.), ro-ro or ro-ro(transportation of various vehicles) and Container Shipping which have become widespread these days. Liquid cargo, which includes oil, petroleum products, oils, wine and water, as well as gas, is transported by specialized vessels - tankers of various types and gas carriers, which is a separate method of sea transportation, similar in technology to bulk carriers. It is also worth highlighting the transportation of goods by refrigerated fleet, which also has certain features. According to product characteristics, cargo is divided into five categories: general, bulk, liquid, sensitive and dangerous.

Note. A large number of specialized organizations and intermediaries involved not only in the field of cargo transportation itself, but also in the field of cargo handling, are involved in organizing sea transportation.

Container shipping is used in both liner shipping (constant voyages between two or more ports) and tramp shipping (irregular shipping for the delivery of associated cargo). One of the significant advantages of container shipping is the ability to send consolidated shipments of goods, that is, the seller does not need to pay the cost of the entire container when sending small shipments. Moreover, containers are currently used for the transportation of bulk (bulk) and liquid cargo. There are no restrictions on the method of transporting goods during linear or tramp shipping, although, for example, ro-ro transportation, due to the cyclical nature of production and trade, is mainly carried out in linear shipping.
In order to send goods to the buyer by sea, the freight forwarder (this may be a separate chartering company) on behalf of the seller enters into a charter agreement with the shipowner (charterer), which is formalized by signing a charter party or a booking note (freight agreement, used in liner shipping). Charter is used, as a rule, only in tramp shipping, although in liner shipping for container shipping, a charter is sometimes used for a minor consignment of goods accepted for transportation if such a possibility exists. A charter is not a replacement for a bill of lading and, unlike it, is not a negotiable document (a security), but it, as a rule, contains a condition on the execution of a bill of lading. There are several types of charters: time charter (agreement for chartering a vessel with a crew), bareboat charter (agreement for chartering a vessel without a crew), demise charter (agreement for chartering a vessel with a crew with the condition that it, together with the captain, be transferred to the service of the charterer) and some others . Depending on the number of voyages of the chartered vessel, several different types of voyage charters are used.

Legal basis

First of all, we should dwell on the legal basis of maritime transport contracts governing the mechanism of international forwarding of goods. The main international instruments currently in force are two: the International Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules of Law Relating to Bills of Lading (Hague Rules), developed by the International Maritime Committee and which entered into force in June 1931, and the UN Convention on the Carriage of Goods by Sea (Hamburg Rules) of 1978, developed by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) and entered into force in November 1992. The main difference between these conventions is the amount of data that must be included in transport documents. Thus, the Hague Rules established that the minimum number of elements to be reflected in each document is three, and the Hamburg Rules increased the number of such elements to fifteen (there are also some other non-fundamental differences).
In Russian legislation, the priority source of law, of course, is the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, in which transport and forwarding activities are regulated by Ch. 41 (art. art. 801 - 806). The direct sources of national legislation in the field of maritime transportation are the Merchant Shipping Code of the Russian Federation, or the Maritime Code, the Code of Inland Water Transport of the Russian Federation, Federal Law of June 30, 2003 N 87-FZ “On Transport and Forwarding Activities”, Rules of Transport and Forwarding Activities approved by the Resolution Government of the Russian Federation dated 09/08/2006 N 554.
In foreign trade, trade customs and documents developed and adopted by the International Federation of Freight Forwarding Organizations (Federation Internationale des Associations de Transitaires et Assimiles - FIATA) and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) have been applied as generally accepted rules. ICC is an international non-governmental organization of private enterprise that has developed rules for the interpretation of international trade terms - Incoterms, which have now been published in seven editions. The purpose of this document was to establish uniform interpretation of the terms of the contract for the sale and purchase of goods with their movement across the customs borders of states (Incoterms 2010 contain 11 trade terms). Incoterms terms directly related to the transportation of goods by sea will be discussed below. International transport documents are divided into two types: those that do not have the properties of securities and those that have these properties. In sea transportation, the first type includes, for example, a sea waybill (Seaway Bill), and the second type - a bill of lading (Bill of Lading).
The main legal meaning of drawing up a transport document in accordance with the contract is to establish the responsibility of the carrier to the sender of the goods in the event of its loss or damage (the contract itself provides requirements for the contents of the transport document).
Currently, various international organizations in the field of transport and forwarding activities are striving to standardize and unify transport documents. However, it is generally accepted that there is still no significant degree of standardization in maritime transport. There is still a tradition according to which each carrier has its own form of transport document.
But here, too, a certain level of standardization has been achieved. The International Chamber of Shipping (a non-governmental organization of shipowners established in 1948) has proposed for widespread use a sample bill of lading that complies with the UN Common Format (a trade transaction information standard developed by a UN working group and recommended for widespread use in trade).

Sea transportation documents

The main document for the carriage of goods by sea is the Bill of Lading, which acts as a document of title. The holder (possessor) of the bill of lading has the right to possession of the goods, since the carrier of the goods can release them only upon presentation of the bill of lading. Another main document used in maritime trade transportation is the Seaway Bill, which is a non-negotiable transport document and is not a security. This transport document is mainly used in cases where transactions do not involve documentary letters of credit, and trading partners have known each other for a long time.
Below we will dwell in more detail on the characteristics of transport documents used in practice in maritime transportation.

Bill of Lading

As noted above, bill of lading- this is a document that embodies the presence of title, that is, ownership of the goods, as a result of which it is a full-fledged document for the sale of goods in transit. There are different types of bills of lading, such as on board, received for shipment, through, port, etc. Each of these types does not change the essence of the document, but only details in each of the options the features of receiving cargo or issuing it.

Note. Bills of lading are issued on standard forms developed and used by individual associations of shipowners and liner shipping companies. Most forms of bills of lading are created under the auspices of BIMCO (The Baltic and International Maritime Council).

Thus, an on-board bill of lading is issued only immediately after loading the goods on board the vessel. This type of bill of lading is considered by the buyer and the bank to be the most secure type of document as it clearly states when and on which vessel the goods are shipped. The off-board type of document confirms only the fact that the freight forwarding company accepted the cargo for delivery, and there is no date of shipment on it. Before actual shipment, the cargo may be stored in a warehouse (a special container warehouse that is not located at the pier) of this company at the port of shipment. For container transportation, this form of bill of lading is used. The period of stay of the goods at the port of shipment until the moment of its actual loading on board the vessel is, of course, limited due to many factors (the time the vessel stays in the port, the date of departure at sea according to the schedule, terms and payment terms of the contract).
A through bill of lading is used for multimodal transportation (for example, by sea and rail). In connection with the advent of container transportation of goods and in conditions of intermodal transportation, the need arose to develop a new document - a forwarding bill of lading that corresponds to these realities. This document was first developed by FIATA in 1968, and in 1974 the ICC adopted unified rules relating to the multimodal transport document. Currently, the UNCTAD/ICC Rules for Multimodal Transport Documents (ICC Publication No. 298, 1974) are in force, according to which the form of bill of lading used in international trade practice has been introduced (on its The ICC logo is indicated on the front side).
A port bill of lading is used in cases where the goods have already been accepted for shipment, but for various reasons have not yet arrived at the port. The execution of such a document of title by the port administration or a forwarding company is mainly due to the need to provide such a document to the buyer’s representatives or its creditor bank.
Depending on the ships of which lines cargo transportation is carried out, bills of lading are divided into linear, or voyage (Liner Bill of Lading), and charter (freight) (Chartered Bill of Lading). Already from the title of the document it is clear that the first type of bill of lading is used for regular voyages on existing shipping lines, and the second type is used for tramp transportation of goods. A line bill of lading meets all the necessary requirements for the execution of such a document and contains all the essential terms of the contract for the carriage of goods, that is, it is a document of title. As for the charter (freight) bill of lading, this document contains references to the terms of the charter - an agreement for the carriage of goods concluded between the charterer (shipper) and the charterer (carrier). This document cannot be considered as a document certifying the fact of transportation of a specific cargo, and is not a document of title. For this reason, banks do not consider the charter bill of lading as a document that complies with the terms of the letter of credit. That is, if initially in the terms of the letter of credit there was an indication regarding the bill of lading used as a charter one, then this document is immediately considered by the parties to the transaction not as a document confirming an agreement for the supply of a specific product, but as a document confirming only the existence of a charter agreement, or, in other words, evidencing on the availability of chartered space (volume of area) on the ship.

Note. The charter bill of lading contains only cargo and freight details. Certain of the terms of the charter party are incorporated into this document by reference.

The main positions of a modern bill of lading: the place of receipt by the forwarder of the cargo is the place of its origin as such, that is, the place of its actual shipment, which is understood as the port; To deliver the cargo to the place of its delivery, the forwarder uses the services of the actual cargo carrier. For the owner of the bill of lading, the forwarder remains the contractual carrier from the place of loading to the place of delivery of the goods. If the actual carrier damages or loses the cargo, the freight forwarder is liable to the owner of the bill of lading.
The bill of lading is drawn up in several originals (usually at least three) and copies. All originals of the bill of lading together are called a full set. According to international rules, the presentation of one original bill of lading to receive goods from the ship makes the remaining copies of the original in hand invalid. However, banks require, in accordance with the terms of the letter of credit, the presentation of a complete set of bills of lading, unless otherwise specified in the terms of the letter of credit.
The Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits (ICC Publication No. 600) covers in sufficient detail requirements for registration and verification of bills of lading by banks(v. 20). A short list of those points that require special attention from the bank should be given:
- compliance of the conditions and addressee of cargo delivery with the data given in the terms of the letter of credit;
- compliance of the addressee of the notification of shipment with the data contained in the terms of the letter of credit;
- the type of bill of lading and its compliance with the terms of the letter of credit (on-board, off-board; is there a mark “on board” or a mark about another method of delivery of goods by ship, for example on deck);
- compliance of the ports of shipment and delivery of goods specified in the letter of credit;
- compliance of the name of the cargo, its weight and other characteristics with those specified in other accompanying documents;
- compliance of information on freight payment with the data contained in the terms of delivery of cargo in the letter of credit and commercial invoice;
- compliance of the date of loading of goods on board the vessel with the requirements of the letter of credit for its validity period;
- the fact of presentation of the original bill of lading along with all other duly signed originals.
It should be noted that in the business of maritime transport, a short form of bill of lading is also used. This is a document recognized by the ICC and the banking community in which some or even all of the conditions of carriage are specified by reference to some source or document other than the bill of lading. This document appeared in order to simplify commercial documentation and is also a full-fledged document of title. It is used mainly for the transportation of container cargo, general cargo (packaged cargo) and as a bill of lading for grouped cargo.

Note. Unlike other documents accompanying the sea transportation of goods, only a bill of lading has the properties of a negotiable document and a security, which is recognized in international business.

Seaway Bill

The sea waybill, the differences between which from the bill of lading are mentioned above, is one of the types of waybills used when transporting goods by various modes of transport. Ocean Waybills can be called by different names, such as Ocean Waybills, Data Freight Receipts, or Liner Waybills. Sea waybills are used in international trade along with bills of lading when this method of documenting the transportation of goods satisfies both parties to the trade transaction. Here it should be recalled once again that the sea waybill is not a security that gives its holder the right to the goods, but is only a document confirming the existence of an agreement for the carriage of goods, by virtue of which the carrier undertakes to deliver the goods to the recipient specified in this document.
The sea waybill is currently used for the delivery of goods between branches of the same corporation, when a letter of credit form of payment is not used, when the sender and recipient of the goods are the same person, or with a short delivery time of goods, when the arrival of the goods at the destination is faster than postal delivery documents, or for delivering goods to a consignment warehouse or to your representatives during commission trade.
The use of sea waybills is quite wide. It is generally accepted that they, in principle, satisfy both the carrier, the consignee, and the bank. A significant advantage of this accompanying document is that when it is used, legal and financial problems associated with the discrepancy between the time of arrival of the vessel with the cargo and the shipping documents that were sent by mail from the port of shipment of the goods disappear.
The International Maritime Committee approved the Uniform Rules for Sea Waybills in 1990. According to these rules, the sea waybill is not considered a document of title, but only indicates the acceptance of the cargo and the existence of a concluded contract of carriage. The right to dispose of the cargo belongs to the sender. The use of the sea waybill is also reflected in the Merchant Shipping Code of the Russian Federation.
The International Maritime Committee (Comite Maritime International) is an international non-governmental organization established in 1897 on the initiative of the International Law Association to promote the unification of maritime and commercial law (the Russian Federation is its member). Headquarters in Antwerp, Belgium.

Since 1993, the sea waybill has been included in the Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits (ICC Publication No. 500). In the latest edition of the Unified Rules (ICC Publication No. 600), Art. 21 "Non-Negotiable Sea Waybill" - a waybill without the right of transfer by endorsement.

Dock Receipt

A dock receipt, or dock warrant, is issued by an ocean carrier to the shipper after receiving the cargo at the shipping company's pier for shipment abroad. For each shipment of cargo, this document is drawn up in several copies. A receipt form indicating the quantitative characteristics of the cargo, its volume, markings, and a description of an individual place is filled out by the shipper or his forwarder. If visible damage is detected or the cargo does not correspond to its description, the carrier makes appropriate notes on the dock receipt before signing the document. Based on this document, a bill of lading is drawn up and then exchanged for it.
Although a dock receipt from a legal point of view can be considered as a document of title, it does not have all the features of such a document and, first of all, it does not certify the right of its holder to own and dispose of the goods.

Delivery Order

This document is used as the carrier's receipt for the cargo and as evidence of the existence of an agreement for the carriage of goods. There are two types of such documents, one of which is intended for the representatives of the seller, and the other for the carrier. The second option is called the ship's delivery order. The first type is a type of shipping certificate, when at the port of destination the specified part of the cargo is to be issued to the holder of this document. The second option is used in cases where the seller has one bill of lading for the entire cargo, and the seller needs to sell it in parts to different buyers. The seller cannot transfer the bill of lading to each of the buyers. Therefore, to resolve this issue, in the purchase and sale agreement, the seller stipulates in advance his right to present delivery orders to buyers instead of a bill of lading.
In practice, delivery orders are often used in combination with a bill of lading as a way of dividing a shipment of goods into smaller shipments for subsequent sale.
However, this document, unlike a bill of lading, is not a security and does not provide the buyer with the same reliable legal protection in the event of damage to the transported cargo or its loss.

Navigator's Receipt (Mate's Receipt)

The navigator's receipt is issued by the master's mate after acceptance of the goods on board the vessel and is considered as evidence of receipt of the bill of lading from the carrier. This document is not title to goods (it can be considered as such in the absence of a bill of lading and if there is a preliminary agreement on this between the parties to the transaction). In the practice of a number of countries, during sea transportation, documents similar to the navigator's receipt are used as a document that temporarily remains with the owner of the goods to certify that the goods have been received from him. These include, for example, a berth receipt from the owner of the berth, a receipt for the goods being received by the warehouse owner. All these documents, as well as the navigator’s receipt, are subsequently returned to the person who handed them over, but in exchange for documents such as a bill of lading, a warehouse certificate, or after the goods have been accepted into the warehouse. These documents are not securities, do not represent goods, and cannot be negotiable.

Note. The navigator's receipt is issued by the cargo assistant captain. After comparing the data of the tallyman and the navigator's receipt with the data specified by the forwarder in the bill of lading, and if these data match, the bill of lading is signed by the carrier.

Warehouse Receipt

This document is confirmation in the form of a receipt from an authorized person representing the warehouse owner that the goods have been accepted for temporary storage. The legal meaning of this document is interpreted differently in different countries, and in accordance with the legislation of a number of countries, for example the USA, it is equivalent to a security, being drawn up in negotiable form. In this form, the warehouse receipt can be used as collateral for a bank loan. Therefore, according to American law, this document has the properties of a bill of lading. In English law, warehouse receipts are not recognized as such.

FIATA documents

A few words should be said about the work that FIATA (Federation Internationale des Associations de Transitaires et Assimiles) has carried out over many years in the field of standardization of forwarding documents. This international organization has developed a number of standard forwarding documents based on UN recommendations. It is believed that all these documents are universal in nature, that is, they should be used for all types of freight forwarding, including sea transportation. These documents include FIATA Forwarding Instruction (FFI), Forwarders Certificate of Receipt (FIATA FCR), Forwarders Warehouse Receipt, Forwarders Certificate of Transport (FCT) ), Forwarding bill of lading for the transportation of goods in mixed traffic (Negotiable FIATA Multimodal Transport Bill of Lading - FBL), Forwarding bill of lading for transportation of goods in mixed traffic (Non-Negotiable FIATA Multimodal Transport Waybill - FWB).
Of all the above documents, only the forwarding bill of lading for multimodal cargo transportation has taken root in international banking practice. This is explained by the fact that the development of this document was based on the ICC Unified Rules for Documents for Multimodal Transportation of Goods (ICC Publication No. 298). The specified bill of lading refers to documents of title and has the properties of a security (on the front side of such a bill of lading there is an ICC logo). With regard to other FIATA standards, the ICC recommendations explicitly state that they are unacceptable for settlements in the form of a letter of credit, unless its terms and conditions specifically indicate their use.

Sea transportation terms Incoterms

It was said above that in Incoterms there is a special group of terms that relate exclusively to the transportation of goods by sea and (in the latest edition in 2010) by inland waterways. In Incoterms 2010, four terms belong to this group. Without going into a detailed description of all aspects of the use of special terminology, which would be the subject of a separate discussion given the widespread use of these terms in operations for the carriage of goods by sea, we should still briefly talk about each of them:
- FAS - Free Alongside Ship - "free along the side of the ship"(indicating the port of shipment). This term means that the seller is deemed to have fulfilled his obligation to deliver when the goods are placed alongside the ship at the agreed port of shipment. From this point on, the buyer must bear all costs and risks of loss or damage to the goods;
- FOB - Free on Board - "free on board"(indicating the port of shipment). This term means that the seller delivers the goods on board the ship nominated by the buyer at the named port of shipment. From this moment on, the buyer bears all risks of loss or damage to the goods;
- CFR - Cost and Freight - "cost and freight"(indicating the destination port). The term means that the seller delivers from the moment the goods are placed on the ship at the port of shipment. The seller is obliged to pay all costs and freight, as well as complete customs formalities. At the same time, the risk of accidental loss or damage to the goods, as well as subsequent unforeseen expenses, is transferred to the buyer;
- CIF - Cost, Insurance and Freight - "cost, insurance and freight"(indicating the destination port). This term means that the seller delivers from the moment the goods are placed on the ship at the port of shipment. The seller is obliged, as in the previous case, to pay all expenses and freight, as well as complete customs formalities. Risks are also transferred to the buyer, but, unlike the previous term, the seller is obliged to provide marine insurance for the goods against the buyer's risk of accidental loss or damage to the goods during transport.
These terms, which relate exclusively to the carriage of goods by sea or transportation by inland waterways, as well as other Incoterms terms, are intended to clearly and clearly distribute the responsibilities of the parties to a trade contract, in this case directly related to the transportation of goods, their insurance, ensuring their proper safety, fulfillment customs formalities. Correct use of these terms by the parties to a transaction allows for an early assessment of its cost parameters and the limits of responsibility of each participant, helping to avoid any controversial situations or conflicts in the future.
In conclusion, it should be said that sea transportation, especially container transportation of goods, remains currently one of the most common and popular methods of delivering goods to buyers in international trade. As noted above, a large number of specialized organizations and intermediaries are involved in organizing and servicing this industry. Documentation of the transportation of commercial cargo took many years to develop certain uniform standards based on the customs of merchant shipping. As a result of the development of this industry, a whole group of documents related to maritime transportation is currently used in business practice. Given their widespread use in international trade, familiarity with the basics in this area is a good help for a banking professional.