Due to too many such queries from the trading community, the LLoyd's of London "Maritime Asia/Intermodal Asia" magazine has commissioned me to write an article on this subject of endorsements on BL. The title of this article is "What 'To Order' and 'Blank Endorsed' Actually Mean?"
I often explain this highly technical topic in my workshops with a story approach so that participants can remember it easily and it can also increase the recall rate after many years.
Endorsement is like building a small bridge named "BL" across a small creek, with wooden planks of about one foot wide and ten feet long. The first piece of plank is placed by the shipper, then the second plank by the second endorser and the third piece by the third endorser, so on and so forth.
If the first plank placed by the shipper is unsecured, it falls over the creek and breaks into pieces, can a man go across the "BL" bridge? Obviously not. The man is named Mr. Title.
The same thing with endorsement in BL, if the first endorser, made by the shipper, has defects, title cannot pass with his defective endorsement, then the second endorser has no power to make any further endorsements. In legal terms we call it "no capacity to act or perform".
At times, it is difficult to explain a complicated subject by a simple story. And some professionals have the tendency to explain a complicated subject by a more complicated approach, putting in more jargons to confuse the enquirer. As a facilitator in trade seminars, I try not to do so.
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[edited 5/22/01 4:01:50 PM]
[edited 11/17/01 3:00:17 AM]