ICC Digital Library Forum

Hello;

We issued a documentary credit, calling for a charter party B/L, with the following conditions:

43T - ALLOWED
44E - VENTSPILS
44F - YALOVA - TURKEY

And yesterday, we received two different charter party B/Ls which divided the shipment route into two parts on two different vessels because of transhipment.

C/P B/L NO:1
Port of Loading : Ventspils
Port of Discharge : X

C/P B/L NO:2
Port of Loading : X
Port of Discharge : Yalova - Turkey

Article 20-c-i clearly states that B/L may indicate that the goods will or may be transhipped provided that the entire carriage is covered by one and the same bill of lading. But there is no such a concept in UCP 600 for charter party bill of ladings.

Could you please provide me with your comments whether;
a. these C/P B/Ls are acceptable or not?
b. If not, on what grounds could they be refused?

I am waiting for your comments.

Regards.

Zeynep ERSAMUT

Hi again;

Since I have not received any comments regarding the above query, I would like to share with you the answer received from Collyer Consulting website.

Question
There is a concept within articles 19, 20 and 21 that a B/L may indicate that the goods will be transhipped provided that the entire carriage is covered by one and the same transport document. But there is no such concept within article 22 covering charter party bills of lading. We have been presented with two different charter party bills of lading dividing the shipment route into two parts on two different vessels, under a credit which allows transshipment. Is the presentation acceptable? If not, on what grounds could it be refused?

Answer
Article 22 does not provide any rules regarding transhipment where a charter party shipment is effected. This is due to the fact that the industry practice is to charter a ship to sail from A to B and not A to B via C. If transhipment is to occur, it is for the issuing bank to state the applicable conditions under which the charter party bill(s) of lading is/are to be issued. The provisions stated in articles 19, 20 and 21 cannot automatically be applied to a charter party situation. Absent any specific conditions in the credit, and provided the documents cover the shipment from and to the required ports, I do not see how a bank can refuse.

Regards.

Zeynep Ersamut

As per UCP, documents in a presentation are examined to determine whether they constitute a complying presentation. In this particular case, the presentation comprises two sets of charter party B/L, which combined together comply with the LC requirement.

I agree that there is no discrepancy in this particular case.

Regards,
Duc N.H