Knowledgebase-Shipped On Board

What is a Shipped on Board Date and why is it important..??

As we know, a Bill of Lading is the most important transport document in the global shipping process and has 3 basic purposes or roles..

Evidence of Contract of Carriage– emphasis on the term “Evidence“

Receipt of Goods– emphasis on the term “Receipt“ and

Document of Title to the goods– emphasis on the term “Title“

A bill of lading also carries several clauses and stamps each with its own meaning and bearing on the document and liabilities..

A shipped-on-board notation or stamp is one such item that is commonly seen on a bill of lading..

Bear in mind that this is NOT a mandatory notation or stamp from the perspective of a shipping line, but it could be a mandatory requirement for the client as required by a letter of credit or financial institution or the buyer of the goods..

The purpose of a Shipped on Board (SOB) notation or stamp is to confirm that the shipping line has received and loaded the cargo physically on board the specified ship/voyage..

There may or may not be a date stamp next to this SOB stamp as this depends on the shipping line and their policy..

Some shipping lines may still be following the practice of putting a separate stamp showing Shipped on Board (could look like the image on the right) as it could be a security requirement for them..

Other shipping lines may have a printed notation simply showing “Shipped On Board” with or without a date based on their policy/requirement..

THE DATE OF ISSUANCE OF THE BILL OF LADING WILL BE DEEMED TO BE THE DATE OF SHIPMENT UNLESS THE BILL OF LADING CONTAINS AN ON BOARD NOTATION INDICATING THE DATE OF SHIPMENT, IN WHICH CASE THE DATE STATED IN THE ON BOARD NOTATION WILL BE DEEMED TO BE THE DATE OF SHIPMENT.

So, if a bill of lading is issued without a shipped-on-board date, the date of issuance of the bill of lading will be considered as the shipped-on-board date..

If there is a separate notation of showing Shipped on Board with date in the body of the bill of lading, the SOB date should always be on or before the Bill of Lading date..

Does a shipped-on-board notation with a date require to be signed..??

Now to answer whether a shipped-on-board date notation needs a separate signature next to it, the answer is that it is simply a question of choice..

A shipping line may or may not sign it as per their policy.. There is no rule or regulation that says the SOB DATE must be signed..

If the letter of credit requires the SOB to be dated AND signed, the client can request the same from the shipping line and they may accept it, unless they have any specific policy prohibiting it..

In this regard, also note UCP600 – Article 3 which says

A DOCUMENT MAY BE SIGNED BY HANDWRITING, FACSIMILE SIGNATURE, PERFORATED SIGNATURE, STAMP, SYMBOL OR ANY OTHER MECHANICAL OR ELECTRONIC METHOD OF AUTHENTICATION.

and UCP600 – Article 17 (b) which says

A BANK SHALL TREAT AS AN ORIGINAL ANY DOCUMENT BEARING AN APPARENTLY ORIGINAL SIGNATURE, MARK, STAMP, OR LABEL OF THE ISSUER OF THE DOCUMENT, UNLESS THE DOCUMENT ITSELF INDICATES THAT IT IS NOT AN ORIGINAL.

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