Significance and Risks associated with Various Requirements under Bills of Lading (B/L) and Charter Parties (C/P) and Letters of Indemnity (LOI) . 1 April 2021 Yutaka Tsurusaki Attorney-at-law, Tsurusaki & Kobayashi (T&K Partners) In the previous edition , I wrote about the significance of Bills of Lading (B/L) and problems associated with the delivery of cargo without production of B/Ls and Letters of Indemnity (LOI) in general. In this edition, I would like to explain about the issues associated with LOIs by using case studies so that it is easier for practitioners to understand. Since LOIs are issued not only for a cargo delivery but also for various items under B/L and C/Ps, I will also touch on these points. If you would like to understand in more detail, please refer to my article “the Letter of Indemnity (LOI) and its Legal and Practical Problems” . 1. Relevant Court Precedents Firstly, let’s have an overview of the court precedents related to LOIs. 1.1. The likelihood of disputes and claims for indemnity under LOIs occurring is very low, and even if disputes occur, many of them are solved out of court, and therefore there are not many court precedents published in Japan and overseas. In the cases I have been directly or indirectly involved in the past, there were situations where claims amounting to several million US dollars were made against the delivery by LOI of chemicals of high quality and valuable refrigerated fishes, fruits and others. Also, there was a case where the B/L described the cargoes as brand new automobiles although they were actually used cars, and the Vessel was detained and subsequently, the order for confiscation of the Vessel was issued by the authorities in the Middle East. Both cases were not covered by P&I Insurance, and in the first case, the issuer of LOIs had no or little financial capability, and in the second case, no LOI was issued. Both Owners faced serious issues. Nowadays, a simplified method of “issuing an LOI