ABSTRACT
A typical bill of lading is a document which acknowledges that goods have been shipped by a particular person, normally attesting to their apparent order and condition upon shipment, upon a particular ship, for carriage to a particular place, for delivery to another person ‘or order’ or ‘or assigns’. There usually follows a large space for particulars of the goods and a space for signature preceded by a statement that the master has signed a number of originals of the bill, ‘one of which being accomplished the other shall stand void’. The reverse is usually covered by contractual terms in small print.
