Bill of Lading Template and Annotated Ocean B/L Sample

Below is a filled-out specimen ocean house B/L with every box annotated — what belongs in it, who fills it, what it costs when it is wrong — followed by blank straight, house and master templates in PDF and Word. Nothing here is gated.

Box by box: what goes in it, who fills it, what it costs

Annotation of the 24 boxes

Box	What goes in it	Who fills it	If it is wrong
1 · Shipper	Full legal name and address of the party contracting with the carrier — not the factory, unless the factory is the contracting party.	Shipper, via the booking; forwarder transcribes	An AMS shipper name that does not match the ISF seller draws a mismatch and, on a US import, can hold the container at the terminal.
2 · Consignee	Either a named party (straight, non-negotiable) or "TO ORDER" / "TO ORDER OF [bank]" (negotiable). This single box decides the legal character of the document.	Shipper instructs; carrier or NVOCC types it	Naming a consignee when the sale is on a letter of credit destroys the bank's security and the credit will not be paid.
3 · Notify Party	Who the carrier telephones on arrival. On a US import, this is almost always the customs broker as well as the buyer.	Shipper / consignee instruction	A blank or stale notify party means nobody files entry, and free time expires while the box sits.
4 · Booking No.	The carrier's or NVOCC's booking reference the shipment was accepted under.	Carrier / NVOCC	A booking number that does not match the manifest breaks the link between the B/L and the vessel's cargo declaration.
5 · Bill of Lading No.	The unique document number. For US vessel manifest filing the number is built from the issuer's SCAC as the first four characters, followed by up to twelve more alphanumeric characters.	Issuing carrier or NVOCC	A number that is not SCAC-prefixed and unique will not transmit to CBP, and a duplicate number across two shipments causes an in-bond or entry to be filed against the wrong cargo.
6 · Export References	Purchase order, commercial invoice number, letter-of-credit number, internal file number.	Shipper	Not fatal to the carriage, but a missing PO number is the single most common reason an accounts-payable department will not pay the freight invoice.
7 · Forwarding Agent / FMC No.	The forwarder or NVOCC and, for a US-regulated intermediary, its Federal Maritime Commission ocean transportation intermediary licence number.	Forwarder	Acting as an NVOCC on a US trade without a licence and a published tariff is an FMC compliance exposure, not a paperwork slip.
8 · Pre-carriage / Place of Receipt	The inland leg and the point where the carrier took custody — the point at which carrier liability begins.	Forwarder / carrier	Leaving it blank on a door move pushes the liability start point to the terminal gate and leaves the inland leg uncovered.
9 · Vessel / Voyage No.	The vessel actually loaded and its voyage number, not the vessel booked.	Carrier, after loading	A stale vessel name is the classic letter-of-credit discrepancy; banks check it against the on-board notation.
10 · Port of Loading	The port where the goods went on board. Use the UN/LOCODE alongside the name.	Carrier	If it differs from the port named in the credit, the bank requires an on-board notation restating the credit's port of loading, the vessel and the shipment date.
11 · Port of Discharge	Where the cargo comes off the vessel — the customs port of unlading, which is not always the delivery city.	Carrier	Filing entry at the wrong port means the entry is rejected and free time keeps running.
12 · Place of Delivery	The final contractual delivery point and the service mode: CY/CY, CY/Door, CFS/CFS.	Forwarder	A CY/Door B/L billed as CY/CY is how forwarders lose the drayage margin on a whole contract.
13 · Container / Seal / Size	Container number with its check digit, the seal number affixed at stuffing, and the equipment type.	Shipper at stuffing; forwarder verifies	A seal number that does not match the one on the box at destination is a discrepancy the carrier and CBP will both record, and it can trigger an examination.
14 · Marks and Numbers	The shipping marks stencilled on the packages, or "NO MARKS".	Shipper	Marks that disagree with the packing list are a documentary-credit discrepancy.
15 · No. and Kind of Packages	The outer package count and type — cartons, pallets, drums, bundles. Not the number of pieces inside.	Shipper	Under US COGSA the carrier's default liability is capped per package, so how the count is stated is a direct financial term, not a description.
16 · Description of Goods	A plain commercial description sufficient for customs, plus the HS heading. "SHIPPER'S LOAD, STOW AND COUNT" is a liability-qualifying carrier’s clause: put it on its own line alongside the description, never in place of one. Do not write "SAID TO CONTAIN" into the description field — 19 CFR 4.7a lists "STC" alongside "FAK" and "general cargo" as unacceptable manifest descriptions.	Shipper	A vague description ("GENERAL CARGO", "FAK", "STC") is not an acceptable cargo description under 19 CFR 4.7a and draws a rejection under the 24-hour rule; the container will not be loaded.
17 · Gross Weight	The gross weight of the cargo including packing. For the container itself the shipper must separately verify and submit a verified gross mass before it can be loaded.	Shipper	No verified gross mass, no loading — the container is rolled and the shipper carries the cost.
18 · Measurement	Volume in cubic metres, to three decimals. LCL freight is normally rated on the greater of weight or measurement.	Shipper / forwarder	Understated CBM on an LCL booking produces a corrected invoice from the co-loader and a margin hole on the file.
19 · Freight and Charges	Which charges are prepaid and which are collect, line by line. "Prepay and add" belongs here explicitly.	Forwarder, from the quotation	A "freight prepaid" B/L released before the shipper has paid is an unsecured loan to the shipper.
20 · Declared Value	Normally left as "NO VALUE DECLARED". Declaring a value raises the carrier's liability ceiling above the statutory package limitation, at an ad valorem freight cost.	Shipper, with a decision	Leaving it blank on high-value cargo means recovery is capped at the package limitation, however large the loss.
21 · Number of Original B(s)/L	How many originals were issued — conventionally three, stated in words and figures. On a negotiable bill each original is a document against which delivery can be demanded. Straight bills are routinely issued in a set of three as well; the set is simply not negotiable.	Issuing carrier / NVOCC	Once one original is surrendered against delivery, the rest are void. An uncontrolled fourth original is a fraud vector.
22 · Place and Date of Issue	Where and when the document was issued. This is not the shipment date.	Issuing carrier / NVOCC	Banks read the on-board date, not this one. Confusing the two is a routine cause of a late-shipment discrepancy.
23 · Shipped on Board Date	The date the goods physically went on board the named vessel, either pre-printed or as a dated on-board notation.	Carrier, after loading	Missing or undated, the document is a "received for shipment" B/L. Under a credit calling for an on-board B/L, it will be refused.
24 · Signature	Signed by the carrier or by a named agent expressly signing "as agent for the carrier".	Carrier or its agent	An agent who signs without stating the capacity risks being held as the contracting carrier.

Three documents that look alike: straight, order and sea waybill

The consignee box decides which one you are holding.

	Straight B/L (non-negotiable)	Order B/L (negotiable)	Sea waybill
Consignee box reads	A named party	"TO ORDER" or "TO ORDER OF [bank]"	A named party
Document of title	Yes — but non-negotiable	Yes	No
Transferable by endorsement	No — endorsement gives the transferee no additional rights	Yes, by endorsement and delivery	No
Original needed to collect the cargo	Carrier practice varies; the named consignee is the only party entitled to delivery	Yes — one endorsed original, surrendered	No — consignee identifies itself
Use it when	The buyer has paid, or is a related party, but you still want a bill of lading rather than a waybill	Payment is by letter of credit or documentary collection, or the cargo may be sold in transit	Trusted counterparty, prepaid or open account, and you want release without couriering paper

The wording matters and it is regularly got wrong. A straight bill is a non-negotiable document of title, not a non-document-of-title: the Uniform Commercial Code defines “document of title” to include a bill of lading without qualifying it by negotiability, and then provides that a document of title which is not negotiable is nonnegotiable. What the federal statute requires on the face of a straight bill is the words “nonnegotiable” or “not negotiable” — nothing more. Do not print “not a document of title” on one.

One scoping point US operators get wrong: the federal statute governing straight and order bills applies to bills issued for carriage between US places or from a US place to a foreign country. A bill issued in Guayaquil for an import into Florida is not covered by it; the carrier's own terms and its chosen law govern instead.

What goes wrong

• The consignee box was filled from the last file. A named consignee on a letter-of-credit shipment cannot be fixed after the vessel sails without the carrier's amendment and, usually, a fee.
• The on-board date was taken from the issue date. They differ whenever the document is typed after loading, which is most of the time.
• "Freight prepaid" was printed before the funds arrived. Once the original is out, the leverage is gone.
• No verified gross mass, or a weight that disagrees with it. SOLAS VI/2 makes the VGM a condition of loading: without one the box does not load. A disagreement between the B/L weight, the VGM and the packing list will at minimum draw a query from the line, and outside the carrier’s tolerance it will roll the container.
• Originals went out by courier and the vessel arrived first. On a short trade lane a three-day transit beats a courier, and the cargo sits accruing charges — the reason demurrage and detention exposure is a documentation problem before it is a terminal problem.
• The description was "GENERAL CARGO". 19 CFR 4.7a names it, with "FAK" and "STC", as an unacceptable manifest description. It will not clear the 24-hour rule.
• An agent signed without stating capacity. Write "as agent for the carrier" every time.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a straight and an order bill of lading?

A straight bill names the consignee and is non-negotiable: endorsing it transfers no additional rights, and only the named party is entitled to the goods. An order bill is consigned "to order" or "to order of" a bank, is negotiable, and transfers title by endorsement and delivery. Use a straight bill when the buyer has already paid; use an order bill when a bank or the possibility of sale in transit requires control over the cargo.

Can I use a Word or PDF bill of lading template for a real ocean export?

Use one for drafting, quoting, training and internal review. Do not use a generic form to actually contract carriage. The B/L is the contract, and the terms that govern it are the issuing carrier's or NVOCC's own terms printed on or incorporated by reference into its form. A blank template carries no terms at all.

Who signs the bill of lading — the shipper or the carrier?

The carrier, or a named agent signing expressly for the carrier. The shipper's signature does not appear on an ocean B/L as the issuing signature; the shipper's declarations are the content of the boxes it supplied, which is why "shipper's load, stow and count" exists.

What is the difference between a house and a master bill of lading?

The master is issued by the vessel-operating carrier to the NVOCC. The house is issued by the NVOCC to the underlying shipper. One consolidated container carries one master and as many houses as there are shipments inside it, and the house number is the level at which the shipment is identified for security filing.

How many original bills of lading are issued?

Conventionally three, stated on the face of the document in words and figures. They exist so that the carrier, the shipper and the consignee can each hold one. Once one original has been surrendered against delivery, the remaining originals are void. Issuing more than the set stated on the face, or issuing a replacement without a letter of indemnity, is how B/L fraud starts.

We already fill our B/Ls in Word. Why change?

Because the Word file is downstream of nothing. The vessel changes, the on-board date changes, a container is swapped, and the document that goes to the bank is whichever copy someone remembered to open. The cost of a template is not the template — it is the correction fee, the amended manifest and the discrepancy on the credit. If your volume is low enough that this never happens, keep the template; it is on this page, free. If it happens more than once a quarter, the document should be generated from the shipment record instead. Linbis starts at $150 per month including one user, and the trial does not ask for a card.