The Legal Concept and Significance
of Clean Shipping Transport Documents
D. Rhidian Thomas
Abstract Under all the international conventions for the carriage of goods by sea,
whether in force or not, the carrier is obliged to issue a transport document which
records the apparent order and condition of the goods. When all is well to the visible
eye the master or other agent may represent the goods to be in apparent good order
and condition, which is the definition of a clean transport document. In this contribution the duty is analysed with a view to determining its commercial significance,
legal nature and effect, and the extent to which the duty may be controlled contractually by parties to the contract of carriage. Beyond the possibility of contractual
liabilities when the duty is abused or misperformed, statements made in a transport
document are representations of fact which if false or erroneous may be the basis of
liability in tort.
1 Introduction
Transport documents issued to shippers in respect to goods carried wholly or partly
by sea may assume significant legal and commercial importance, not only in relation
to the contract of carriage but also in international trade and trade finance. The
principal categories of such documents are negotiable and straight bills of lading,
waybills and mate’s receipts, but there may be others and in general there is no
compulsion that any documentation must be issued. Nonetheless, documents will
usually be issued in accordance with commercial custom or practice, or as a
contractual or even legal obligation. When issued they may display different legal
and commercial characteristics, but in their generality they provide evidence of the
contract of carriage and as a receipt for the goods to be transported. The information
contained in the documents may provide details of the place of receipt, loading,
carriage and destination of the goods; and also the type, identity, quantity and
condition of the goods, and the dates the goods were shipped and the transport
document issued. This information may be factual in nature and provided by the
D. R. Thomas (*)
Institute of International Shipping and Trade Law, Swansea University, Swansea, Wales, UK
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
P. K. Mukherjee et al. (eds.), Maritime Law in Motion, WMU Studies in Maritime
Affairs 8, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31749-2_30
643
of Clean Shipping Transport Documents
D. Rhidian Thomas
Abstract Under all the international conventions for the carriage of goods by sea,
whether in force or not, the carrier is obliged to issue a transport document which
records the apparent order and condition of the goods. When all is well to the visible
eye the master or other agent may represent the goods to be in apparent good order
and condition, which is the definition of a clean transport document. In this contribution the duty is analysed with a view to determining its commercial significance,
legal nature and effect, and the extent to which the duty may be controlled contractually by parties to the contract of carriage. Beyond the possibility of contractual
liabilities when the duty is abused or misperformed, statements made in a transport
document are representations of fact which if false or erroneous may be the basis of
liability in tort.
1 Introduction
Transport documents issued to shippers in respect to goods carried wholly or partly
by sea may assume significant legal and commercial importance, not only in relation
to the contract of carriage but also in international trade and trade finance. The
principal categories of such documents are negotiable and straight bills of lading,
waybills and mate’s receipts, but there may be others and in general there is no
compulsion that any documentation must be issued. Nonetheless, documents will
usually be issued in accordance with commercial custom or practice, or as a
contractual or even legal obligation. When issued they may display different legal
and commercial characteristics, but in their generality they provide evidence of the
contract of carriage and as a receipt for the goods to be transported. The information
contained in the documents may provide details of the place of receipt, loading,
carriage and destination of the goods; and also the type, identity, quantity and
condition of the goods, and the dates the goods were shipped and the transport
document issued. This information may be factual in nature and provided by the
D. R. Thomas (*)
Institute of International Shipping and Trade Law, Swansea University, Swansea, Wales, UK
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
P. K. Mukherjee et al. (eds.), Maritime Law in Motion, WMU Studies in Maritime
Affairs 8, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31749-2_30
643