The commercial value of bills of lading depends heavily on their accuracy, and effective remedies are necessary to deal with misstatements as to the condition of the cargo. Yet, until the recent decision of the High Court in The David Agmashenebeli, little attention had been paid to the important practical and legal problems arising when the master of a vessel insists on clausing bills of lading, despite the cargo being in apparent good order and condition. This article analyses the duties owed by a sea carrier in relation to the issue and signing of bills of lading and related documents.

This article examines the duties owed by a carrier of goods by sea in relation to the issue and signing of bills of lading. It explores in particular a question of considerable importance to maritime law and practice: what legal consequences follow from the master of a vessel clausing bills of lading, even though the cargo is in apparent good order and condition? This issue recently confronted Colman, J., and was to some extent resolved by him, in The David Agmashenebeli. 1 A related question, also to be discussed, is whether a carrier owes analogous duties in relation to the signing of other shipping documents which contain statements as to the condition of the cargo, such as sea waybills and mate’s receipts.

The bill of lading remains a document of the utmost importance, in relation not only to contracts for the carriage of goods by sea but also to the international sale of goods and to the financing of such sales by letters of credit. In form, a bill of lading records that goods have been shipped on board a vessel for carriage to the port of destination and delivery to a named consignee or to his order. But its commercial and legal functions are

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