Other Documents of Carriage

Abstract This chapter evaluates other documents of carriage, particularly sea waybills and ship’s delivery orders. Sea waybills, once described as the ‘modern contract of carriage of goods by sea’, are very much part of international trade today. A sea waybill performs two of the three functions that a bill of lading performs. It acts as a receipt for the goods and it evidences the contract of carriage between the shipper and the carrier. A sea waybill is not, however, a document of title at common law; ownership of the goods represented in the sea waybill passes by reason of the underlying sales transaction. Meanwhile, A ‘ship’s delivery order’ may refer to a document issued by a carrier while goods are in its possession and containing an undertaking that the goods will be delivered to the holder or to the order of a named person. At common law, a ship’s delivery order is not a transferable document of title, unless there is proof of a custom to this effect.