cargo work

Seller and buyer

The seller and the buyer are the parties contracting with each other for the delivery of the goods.

The seller may be the producer or manufacturer of the goods, or may be a party acting as the producer/ manufacturer’s agent.

The buyer is called consignee [which means the one to whom the cargo consigned. Consignee could be the final consumer/ chain-store/ agent.

Both parties agree on the trade terms which will influence the type and terms of shipping documents. [Say, ‘Bill of Lading’].

Consignee

A party (usually a buyer) named by the consignor (usually a seller) in transportation documents as the party to whose order a consignment will be delivered at the port of destination.

The consignee is considered to be the owner of the consignment for the purpose of filing the customs declaration, and for paying duties and taxes. Formal ownership of the consignment, however, transfers to the consignee only upon payment of the seller's invoice in full.

Shipper

As far as the shipowner is concerned, the shipper is the party who contracts for the carriage of the goods by sea and delivers the goods into his care, whether this party is the seller or an agent of the seller.

The seller may employ the services of a freight forwarder to perform the various functions involved in exporting the goods, and it may be the freight forwarder who contracts for carriage of the goods with the shipowner, making the freight forwarder the legal shipper.

Whoever the shipper is in law, however, the document evidencing receipt of the goods by the carrier (a bill of lading) will be issued by the carrier to that party, and that party will be giving employment to the ship.

In some countries, including the USA, the shipper may be called the consignor.

Freight forwarder

A freight forwarder is a transport intermediary, usually operating in the liner trades, who arranges the export/ import of another party’s goods (by land, sea, air or multimodal) and “forwards” the goods into the care of the sea carrier.

中介公司,幫seller找shipowner去運貨

Carrier

·         A carrier is a party who contracts with a shipper for the transport of goods by sea.

·         Where a ship is chartered and is being operated commercially by the charterer (such as a time charterer), the identity of the legal carrier may depend on the information stated on the bill of lading.

Procedure of shipping documents:

Cargo上了船, chief officer簽收據,證明cargo上了船. 收據的名稱叫mate’s receipts.

Mate's receipts

The mate's receipt is a document signed by the chief officer as a receipt for cargo loaded; it is usually surrendered by the holder in return for the bill of lading. Also, it is an evidence of the quantity and the condition of the cargo.

Hence, if a junior officer observes any damage before shipment, or any shortage, he must report it to the C/O, who should clause the receipt to show this loss or damaged condition.

[When the ship is unsure of the quality/ quantity, the chief officer may clause the receipt like ‘Quality and Quantity Unknown’ or ‘Said to weigh or said to be in the descriptions printed’].

Shipper得到了mate’s receipts, 就根據mate’s receipts的內容去整bill of lading.

Bill of lading (BL) (B/L)

At its most basic, a Bill of Lading is a document generated by a shipper, detailing a shipment of merchandise, giving title to the goods, and requiring the carrier to release the merchandise to a named party at the destination.

The bill of lading is a document signed by the master once the cargo has been loaded.

It is the formal document based on the mate's receipt.

Bills of lading are issued for cargo on most voyages. Sometimes it takes a while to prepare these documents, and the master may empower the agent to sign them on his behalf when they are ready, always strictly in accordance with the mate's receipts.

To assist with commercial arrangements, it is usual to issue three original bills of lading. Each original may have a number of copies which are sometimes signed individually. The master may be given one copy of each original, so that he can compare this with the documents presented to him for delivery of the cargo at the discharge port.

Functions of a bill of lading

·         It is a receipt for the cargo, and is evidential to the quantity and condition of the cargo.

·         It is a document of title.貨屬於誰

·         As evidence of the contract of carriage.

The bill of lading will rarely be the contract itself, since the cargo space will have been booked previously, perhaps by telephone, email or letter. The preliminary contract will be acknowledged by both the shipper and carrier to incorporate the carrier's standard terms of business.

·         As a negotiable document

Clausing a bill of lading

A bill of lading which is signed without the master entering any extra remarks (known as clausing the bill) is called clean, and this is often a requirement of a bank if the holder of the bill requires payment under a letter of credit.

The circumstances in which the master clauses a bill of lading depends on the role of the chief officer in providing him with the necessary information.

Without ever seeing the cargo, a prospective buyer often decides to purchase goods on the basis of the description in the bill of lading. Therefore it is essential that this description is accurate, and the ship's staff should check that the amount of cargo and its apparent condition agree with the information in the bill of lading.

If there is any discrepancy, the bill of lading must be claused accordingly.

Delivery of the cargo

If the bill of lading states that the goods are deliverable to bearer, then the cargo can be claimed by a person who presents an original document. This is called an open bill of lading.

If the bill of lading states that the goods are deliverable solely to a named consignee, then only he can take delivery of the goods. This is known as a straight bill of lading.

In most cases, the bill of lading states that the goods are deliverable to a named consignee or open. This makes the document negotiable, which means it can be endorsed to someone who buys the cargo.

Reefers:

refrigerated containers that have a refrigeration system attached to the rear end of the container.

Reefer containers are able to control temperatures, allowing every type of product (meat, fruits, vegetables, pharmaceuticals, etc.) to travel across the world.

Reefer containers are available as 20ft and 40ft boxes.

As soon as the unit is packed, the refrigeration machinery is activated either by the continued use of a shore supply or linked directly to the transporters (mobile) power source.

Terminals and container parks have specialized park areas to enable reefers to be continuously operational.

Disconnection of units takes place just prior to loading on board the ship. The supply is reconnected from the ship’s mains once the unit is stowed in its allocated position aboard.

The number of reefers which are allowed to be connected to the system depends on the capacity of the ship's power supply system fitted to specify loading bays on the lowest tiers on deck only.

Refrigerated containers carried by conventional container ship are mostly carried above deck as they have to be checked for proper operation. Also, a major part of the refrigeration system may fail, which would have to be replaced or unplugged quickly in the event of a fire. This being the case, no provisions for refrigerated cargo power connections are made below the hatch covers that enclose the top of the hatches aboard a ship.

Some modern vessels would, in the main, be fitted with a reefer container monitoring system to ensure that temperatures are retained within acceptable limits.

Deck officers’ precautions when reefers are loaded

·         Be certain the reefers are loaded in positions with ship’s supply main.

·         Connect reefers to ship’s main as soon as loaded, when safe to do so.

·         Monitor temperature regularly during voyage.

·         Disconnect reefers shortly before discharge, when safe to do so.

Load line convention 1966

Application

·         The Convention applies to ships engaged on international voyages.

·         No ship [to which the Convention applies] shall proceed to sea on an international voyage unless it has been surveyed, marked and provided with an International Load Line Certificate (1966).

Survey, Inspection and Marking

·         There is an ‘initial survey’ before the ship is put into service.

·         There is an ‘annual survey’.

·         There is also a ‘renewal survey’ at an interval not exceeding five years.

·         After any survey has been completed, no change shall be made in the structure, equipment, arrangements, material or scantlings covered by the survey without approval.

Certificates

An International Load Line Certificate (1966) shall be issued, after the initial survey, for a period not exceeding five years from the date of issue. [For sample of certificate pls see Annex III Load Line Convention 1966].

Repairs, Alterations and Modifications

A ship which undergoes repairs, alterations, modifications and outfitting shall continue to comply with at least the requirements previously applicable to the ship.

Repairs, alterations and modifications of a major character and outfitting should meet the requirements for a new ship. [That is, the ship has to go through the legal process of initial survey.]

Zones and Areas

A ship [to which the present Convention applies] shall comply with the requirements applicable to that ship in the zones and areas described in Annex II. [pls see Annex II, Load Line Convention 1966]

·         A port standing on the boundary line between two zones or areas shall be regarded as within the zone or area from or into which the ship arrives or departs.

The Chart of Zone and Seasonal Areas, Annex II, Load Line Convention 1966 should be studied carefully.

·         Freeboards are correlated carefully with the weather conditions throughout the world thus ships trading in areas which have poor weather conditions are loaded so as to provide greater freeboards.

·         A larger freeboard provides more reserve buoyancyand the greater height of the deck above the sea lessens the impact of large seas on the ship.

There are two permanent zones, “Tropical” and “Summer”, where weather conditions are similar throughout the year.

Seasonal Zones are zones in which weather conditions can vary greatly between seasons.

Seasonal Areas are areas within a zone which have seasonal weather conditions somewhat different from the weather conditions pertaining to the whole zone.

·         One of the Chief Officer's duties is to load the maximum possible tonnage while ensuring before departure that at no time during any part of a voyage will the applicable seasonal mark be submerged. It is essential to remember that the vessel is governed not by the zones in which she loads, but also by the zones through which she sails.

Types of Ships [note: pls see Table A and Table B of Chapter III, Annex I, Load Line Convention 1966]

For the purposes of freeboard computation ships shall be divided into Type 'A' and Type ‘B' .

Type ‘A' Ships

A type ‘A' ship is one which is designed to carry only liquid cargoes in bulk, and in which cargo tanks have only small access openings closed by watertight gasketed covers of steel or equivalent material. Such a ship necessarily has the following inherent features:

(a) high integrity of the exposed deck; and

(b) high degree of safety against flooding, resulting from the low permeability of loaded cargo spaces and the degree of sub-division usually provided.

油船,就算船底穿了,水都入不了,因為油密度低,所以low permeability.

Tanks之間隔開了,degree of sub-division.

A Type ‘A' ship shall be assigned a freeboard not less than that based on Table A.

Type ‘B' Ships

All ships which do not come within the provisions regarding Type ‘A' ships shall be considered as Type ‘B’ ships.

A Type ‘B' ship shall be assigned a freeboard not less than that based on Table B.

International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code (IMDG Code)

Dangerous goods/ cargo mean substances, materials and articles covered by the IMDG Code

The objectives of the IMDG Code

·         Enhance safe transport of dangerous goods

·         Protect marine environment

·         Facilitate free unrestricted movement of dangerous goods方便溝通

Class 1: Explosives

Class 2: Gases

Class 3: Flammable liquids

Class 4: Flammable solids; substances liable to spontaneous combust ion; substances which, in contact with water, emit flammable gases

Class 5: Oxidizing substances and organic peroxides

Class 6: Toxic and infectious substances

Class 7: Radioactive material

Class 8: Corrosive substances

Class 9: Miscellaneous dangerous substances and articles

Package and Label

·         Check the cargo for correct packaging.

·         Check that all the labels on the packages are visible and clearly indicate the type and characteristics of cargo.   

Documentation

·         Ensure that before loading any IMDG cargo, the agent or shipper has handed over the Proper Shipping Name (PSN) & UN Number of the cargo carried. The declaration certificate saying cargo has been packed as per the IMDG code.

·         The shipper is responsible for obtaining the export licences for the shipment. Customs clearance would be required, and the goods may be liable to inspection.

·         The goods would be listed in the ship’s manifest and on the ship’s cargo plan.

Hygroscopic products

Hygroscopic products have a natural moisture content and are mainly of plant origin. They may retain, absorb or release water vapour, and excessive amounts of inherent moisture may lead to significant self-heating and "moisture migration" within the cargo resulting in caking, mildew or rot.

Examples of hygroscopic products include grain, rice, flour, sugar, cotton, tobacco, cocoa, coffee and tea.

Non-hygroscopic products

Non-hygroscopic products have no water content. However, certain commodities (e.g. steel) may be damaged if stowed in a moist environment, and others may be harmed if packaged using a hygroscopic material (e.g. wood, paper).

[By way of illustration a vessel loaded a parcel of glass packed with layers of paper between each sheet. At the discharge port it was found that the paper had absorbed moisture from the air during the voyage, making it impossible for the glass sheets to be separated. The cargo was rejected by the receiver].

Types of Sweat

Cargo sweat

Cargo sweat refers to condensation which may form on exposed surfaces of the stow as a consequence of large amounts of warm, moist air being persistently introduced into a hold containing substantially colder cargo.

暖空氣入左凍的hold, 暖空氣condense, 變成sweat.

Ship sweat

Ship sweat refers to condensation which forms directly on a vessel’s structure when the air within a hold, made warm and moist by the cargo, comes into contact with cold surfaces as the vessel moves into cooler climates.

Cargo may be damaged by overhead drips, by contact with sweat which has formed on the ship’s sides or by condensed water which may accumulate at the bottom of the hold.

船去左凍既地區, 船身變凍, hold入面既空氣較暖, 暖空氣接觸到hold牆壁, condense成為sweat. Sweat沿牆身流下, 浸壞d cargo

Dewpoint temperature

When an isolated volume of air cools, relative humidity increases as the temperature falls. Once the temperature has descended to the level at which saturation occurs, water begins to condense. This temperature is known as the dewpoint.

Dewpoint Rule

·         Ventilate if the dewpoint of the air inside the hold is higher than the dewpoint of the air outside the hold. [Note: That is, you are letting in dryer air to the hold to replace the air within].

·         Do not ventilate if the dewpoint of the air inside the hold is lower than the dewpoint of the air outside the hold. [Note: That is, you do not let in wetter air to the hold to replace the air within].

Hygrometer

wet and dry bulb

Psychrometer

埋到碼頭的工作:

·         Cargo operations;

·         Fire watches; 有碼頭工人食煙

·         Security watches;

·         Monitoring communications;

·         Monitoring the anchor [if applicable] or moorings;

·         Observing port regulations. 有些port有特別rules.

The functions of the stowage plan are:

·         It identifies the various cargo parcels by quantity, destination and nature of goods. Additionally, it shows the location of special cargoes like ‘heavy lifts’ or ‘hazardous goods’, valuables and the lock-up stow goods.

·         It permits the chief officer to assess the number of stevedore gangs for respective compartments and the times associated with cargo operations. It also allows stevedores, rigging equipment, lifting gear and so on to be organised without costly delays to the ship.

·         It limits overcarriage and the possibility of short delivery at the port of discharge.

會不會運過量,或者運漏了貨

·         The plan provides at a glance the distribution of the cargo and shows possible access to it in the event of fire, cargo shifting and other emergency can be influenced by the disposition or respective cargoes.