Cargo interests will often claim against the owners under the bills of lading, as the contract of carriage. The intention of this note is to provide owner Members with some general guidance on the key issues to consider when such claims are presented. Such issues include what obligations cargo interests may have with regards to the cargo, and what recourse owners may have against cargo interests or Charterers, if cargo interests behave unreasonably with respect to delivery of the cargo. If a claim is asserted against owners as the carrier under a bill of lading, owners should consider the standing of the parties involved, whether the bill of lading is indeed the correct document to determine the contractual relationship between the owners and the party making the claim. What is the contract of carriage? Owners should check which documents comprise the terms and conditions of the contract of carriage, and ensure they have all the documents containing such terms to hand. Is the bill of lading the contract of carriage or are the terms contained in another document? In order to check what the contract of carriage is, consideration should be given to the relationship of the parties involved. (i) Relationship between Cargo Receiver and Carrier: A transferrable bill of lading may be transferred from a person with title, to a person without title i.e. from a consignee named in the bill of lading to a consignee not named in a bill of lading. This allows trading of the goods on the voyage. A transferable bill of lading will be the contract of carriage as between a carrier and a cargo receiver, to whom the original bill of lading has been lawfully transferred. Owners should ensure they obtain a complete copy of the original bill of lading (both front and back pages) to check the terms, and any incorporated documents, such as the applicable charter party, including the applicable law and jurisdiction provisions or any agreement for arbitration. (ii) Applicable terms referenced in a bill of lading: Owners should check whether any charter party terms are said to be incorporated into the bill of lading: is a specific charter party referenced (usually by date) in the incorporation clause? If not, owners need to consider which charter party applies as a matter of construction, and if they do not have this already, obtain a full copy of it. The answer may not be straightforward if there are multiple charter parties. Under English law, there is a presumption that if the parties to a bill of lading neglect to insert the date of the applicable charter party, or insert an incorrect reference (i.e. to a charter party that does not exist) the head time charter party will apply and be incorporated, because this is the charter party to which the owner is a party (unless the vessel is demise chartered). This presumption is displaced if there is a sub voyage charter party, in which case the sub voyage charter party is the applicable charter, because this is more closely connected with the carriage of the goods and the particular voyage performed under the bill of lading. Owners should seek to obtain a copy of the sub voyage charter to check the terms as soon as possible. The presumption is also displaced if the bill of lading is a charterers’ bill, in which case the charterer is the carrier. Owners should also consider the wording of the incorporation clause in the bills of lading. General words of incorporation (i.e. “all terms, conditions...”) are only capable o