Documentation
Sea Waybill
A non-negotiable transport document that evidences the contract of carriage and receipt of goods but is not a document of title, so no original needs to be surrendered to collect the cargo.
In depth
A sea waybill does the same evidential job as a bill of lading without being a document of title. The named consignee simply identifies themselves at destination and takes delivery — there is no original to courier and no risk of the cargo arriving before the paperwork. That makes it fast and cheap, and it is the sensible default for shipments between related companies or where payment is secured some other way. The trade-off is that it cannot be endorsed or transferred, so it cannot be used to sell goods in transit or to satisfy a letter of credit that calls for a negotiable bill of lading.
Key points
- Non-negotiable; not a document of title
- No original required at destination — releases against identity
- Faster and cheaper than a bill of lading
- Cannot be transferred or used for letter-of-credit presentation