Chapter Ten

Transport

Section 1 Introduction

Contract of carriage• consignment note• air waybill (AWB)• a charter party or a bill of lading

Purposes of message

to hire a vehicle

to urge an early shipment,

to amend the shipping terms,

to give shipping advice,

to dispatch shipping documents, etc.

Section 2 Specimen Documents

• Specimen 1: An inquiry of chartering shipping by fax

• We would like to charter a ship with capacity of about 4000 tons for a single voyage from Avonmouth, Great Britain to Xingang, China for heavy lifts.

• We shall give 40 days’ definite notice of cargo readiness and expect the ship to be at Avonmouth on 31March ready to take cargo on board.

• Would you kindly answer the two questions: (问句使用效果更好）

1 Is such a ship available? 2 if so, on what terms would you arrange for the voyage?

• Your early reply would be most appreciated.

Specimen 2: An enquiry for shipping container by email

• Could you arrange for your shipping container to collect a consignment?

• We have ten cases of art goods at Xingang, ready for despatch to London. Each case weighs 40 kgs. As the L/C of our client stipulates that shipment be not later than 8 August, please quote us for a shipping container from Xingang to London before that deadline.

• Your early quotation would be appreciated.

A possible reply by a broker (negative)

• We feel sorry for our inability to quote for shipping your

ten cases of art goods to London by container.

• We have contacted quite a few shipping companies as w

ell as shipping agents only to find no shipping container

sailing from Xingang to London prior to 15 August. Fort

unately, COSCO m/v “Seal” is scheduled to sail from Ch

ina port to European main ports on or about 20 August.

• Could you manage to ship the ten cases of art goods via

m/v “Seal”?

A possible follow-up confirmation

• This is to confirm that we can ship the ten cases of art

goods via m/v “Seal” scheduled to sail from Xingang

on or about 20 August.

• We have received our client’s advice of agreeing to e

xtend the shipment date of their L/C to 30 August. Pl

ease book the shipping container for us.

• We are looking forward to your quotation and the shi

pping arrangement.

Specimen 3: Urging shipment

• Re: 200 Cases of Children’s Toys under S/C No. 345676

• L/C No. 0987 for the above goods was opened through the

Bank of Scotland yesterday.

• Would you please arrange for the shipment not later than 3

1 October? Last year, we profited from your arrangement f

or the shipment to catch the Christmas season. We therefor

e hope that you will not delay the October shipment as cont

racted. Otherwise, we would very likely miss the high dem

and for toys as Christmas presents.

• Thank you in anticipation of your cooperation and we look

forward to receiving your shipping advice.

Specimen 4: Refusing request for an early delivery Re: 1 000 Sewing Machines under L/C No. 2345l • In reply to your letter of 10 June requesting us to amend t

he above L/C to bring forward the delivery, we regret to say that it will not be possible.

• At your request, we approached our suppliers, but were informed that they are not in a position to advance the delivery because they are already heavily tied up with orders during the next few months. In this case, they can only ship 1 000 sewing machines in one lot within the contracted time of shipment, i.e. October this year.

• While we are extremely sorry for our inability to advance the time of shipment of 500 sewing machines to August to meet your urgent need, we can assure you that special care will be given to your order and that we shall do everything possible to ensure trouble-free and punctual shipment of the contracted goods.

Specimen 5: Giving shipping advice

500 cases of children’s toys under L/C No. 23451 have been shipped on board the

S/S “Red Star”, which is scheduled to leave for London on 15 October.

We are enclosing one set of the shipping documents covering this consignment, co

nsisting of:

one copy of non-negotiable B/L

commercial invoice in duplicate

one copy of insurance policy

one copy of certificate of quality

one copy of packing list

The original of each document is being sent to you through our banker.

We believe that the consignment will reach you in due time and you will find the g

oods to your entire satisfaction.

Thank you for your efforts in promoting the sale of our goods in your market, and

we hope for more business with you in the future.

Specimen 6: Booking a container

1 ） Enquiry

We have 5 000 cases of medicines and chemical reagent

s ready for shipment from Qingdao to Rotterdam. Each

case weighs 60 kg. Could you arrange to collect them?

Our buyer requires shipment not later than November 1

5. Please quote us for a shipping container from Qingd

ao to Rotterdam. Your quotation needs to reach us by

October 31.

We look forward to receiving your prompt attention.

Specimen 6: Booking a container

2） A possible reply to the above• Thank you for asking us to quote for a shipping cont

ainer to Rotterdam for 5 000 cases of medicines and chemical reagents.

• Containers of two sizes, 20′ and 40′, are available, with a capacity of 20m/t and 30m/t respectively. They can be opened at both ends and accordingly can be loaded and unloaded at the same time. Freight charges can be saved when separate consignments intended for the same port of destination are carried in one container.

• We enclose a copy of our freight tariff and look forward to your instructions.

Specimen 7: Shipping agent’s enquiry for multimodal transport

• Could you arrange for inland transport of oil to Taiyuan, Shanxi Pr

ovince, China at acceptable freight rate?

• One of our clients wants to use our multimodal transport system to

send four drums of essential oil ( 1.111 M3, 1100Kgs ) intact to the

ir warehouse in Taiyuan. We plan to ship the oil to Xingang, China

by M/V “Liao He” which is due to sail on 4 August.

• We would issue through or combined bill of lading to Taiyuan aga

inst your confirmation.

• Your early reply concerning your inland transport charges for this

consignment would be appreciated.

• Thanks for your kind consideration.

A possible reply by a forwarding agent

• Here is our reply concerning your yesterday’s fax enqu

iry of our inland transport charges.

• We offer to ship the four drums of essential oil from Xi

ngang to Taiyuan by truck at US$ .... Our rate is US$ ...

per freight ton with a minimum quantity of 3 freight to

ns each lot.

• We hope that you find our quotation favorable.

Section 3 Useful Expressions• Enclosed are the non-negotiable shipping documents covering your Ord

er No. 1145 of 10 November which went forward on S.S. “Jinan”. We trust that the goods will reach you according to schedule and give you entire satisfaction.

• We have pleasure in notifying you that the goods under S/C No. 0985 have been dispatched by M/V “Forever”, sailing on May 1 for London.

• The goods under L/C No. 2239 were loaded on the steamer “Taishan” on August 20. They are to be transshipped at Hong Kong and are estimated to reach you at the end of September.

• The shipment of chemical fertilizers under S/C No.9876 will be effected by S.S. “Pearl River”, which is scheduled to leave here on 16 July. Please proceed with the insurance arrangements.

• For the goods under S/C No.9088, we have booked space on S.S. “East Wind”, due to arrive in New York around 10 June. Please contact Lamber Bros. Corp., New York, our shipping agent, for the loading arrangements.

• Your failure to deliver the goods within the stipulated time period has greatly inconvenienced us.

•

• With regard to your request for changing the port of destination from Hamburg to Oslo, we have to inform you that direct sailings from here to Oslo are infrequent and transshipment, if needed, may involve a substantial amount of extra charges.

• Please do your best to dispatch the goods as soon as possible.

• Major parcel carriers, such as UPS, DHL, FedEx, offer GSR guarantees or "guaranteed services refunds"; if the parcels are not delivered on time, the customer is entitled to a refund.

• Partial drawings and/or partial shipments are allowed, unless the credit stipulates otherwise.

• Transshipment means unloading and reloading from one vessel to another vessel during the course of ocean carriage from the port of loading to the port of discharge stipulated in the credit.

• We will try our best to persuade our clients to accept transshipment and partial shipment.

• As soon as shipping space is booked, we shall advise you of the name of the ship.