Mate's Receipt – A Ghost Document
Long long time ago, the person responsible for loading & securing goods on board a ship was called 'mate'. He saw the goods with his own eyes. He would issue a receipt for such goods. And that was looked upon as authentic and nonpartisan. The Bill of Lading was prepared and issued by the Master on the basis of this document. These days, 'mate' is commonly known as Chief Officer. On container ships, he facilitates the loading of the sealed boxes. The boxes are filled by the shipper. The contents of the box are certified by the Customs Officials on a document known as 'Shipping Bill' in India. The box travels hundreds and at time thousands of miles under Customs seal & bond to the port. Then the box is stored inside the Port premises until the vessel arrives. And before our Chief Officer could wink , the same is loaded on the vessel as per the plan prepared by some one sitting as far away as Timbuktu. The 'mate' has absolutely no clue as to what could be inside the mystery box – nor does he care, unless it has some nuisance value on the ship's operations or safety.
Let's follow the shipping bill. This document is made just before the cargo is stuffed inside the box. The customs watch the cargo go in as per the shipping bill. Then it is sealed. At various stages of movements the custom's officials stamp them along to authenticate progress. Then the box is loaded on the ship. The final thing is to certify that – the said box is loaded on the vessel and the vessel has left the port. This is where the catch lies. The customs need the 'Mate's Receipt' to make a notation of same on the Shipping Bill. As described above, our Chief Officer is completely clueless on what goes inside thousands of such boxes being loaded and even unsure if all the planned boxes are loaded by the Port in the first place. So nailing responsibility on Mate's Receipt (issued by the box operator's agent on behalf of the Mate) is an extremely unreliable act. The correct source of this information lies with the Port or its nominated surveyor – not a Mate who is no more to be seen on the scene after the vessel sails and glaringly innocent of such information. That authentication only leaves him or his agent as a scapegoat if things go wrong.
It's time we stop this archaic, irrelevant, and witch-hunting system of pinning responsibility on a ghost's agent and loads of meaningless duplicity. Shipping bill and EGMs are contextually one and the same thing. A few additional information and authentication by the Carrier's agent on the Shipping Bill would render it to be the 'Export Manifest'. This simplification, would make a big dent on the much talked about 'transaction costs' on exports in our country.
Long long time ago, the person responsible for loading & securing goods on board a ship was called 'mate'. He saw the goods with his own eyes. He would issue a receipt for such goods. And that was looked upon as authentic and nonpartisan. The Bill of Lading was prepared and issued by the Master on the basis of this document. These days, 'mate' is commonly known as Chief Officer. On container ships, he facilitates the loading of the sealed boxes. The boxes are filled by the shipper. The contents of the box are certified by the Customs Officials on a document known as 'Shipping Bill' in India. The box travels hundreds and at time thousands of miles under Customs seal & bond to the port. Then the box is stored inside the Port premises until the vessel arrives. And before our Chief Officer could wink , the same is loaded on the vessel as per the plan prepared by some one sitting as far away as Timbuktu. The 'mate' has absolutely no clue as to what could be inside the mystery box – nor does he care, unless it has some nuisance value on the ship's operations or safety.
Let's follow the shipping bill. This document is made just before the cargo is stuffed inside the box. The customs watch the cargo go in as per the shipping bill. Then it is sealed. At various stages of movements the custom's officials stamp them along to authenticate progress. Then the box is loaded on the ship. The final thing is to certify that – the said box is loaded on the vessel and the vessel has left the port. This is where the catch lies. The customs need the 'Mate's Receipt' to make a notation of same on the Shipping Bill. As described above, our Chief Officer is completely clueless on what goes inside thousands of such boxes being loaded and even unsure if all the planned boxes are loaded by the Port in the first place. So nailing responsibility on Mate's Receipt (issued by the box operator's agent on behalf of the Mate) is an extremely unreliable act. The correct source of this information lies with the Port or its nominated surveyor – not a Mate who is no more to be seen on the scene after the vessel sails and glaringly innocent of such information. That authentication only leaves him or his agent as a scapegoat if things go wrong.
It's time we stop this archaic, irrelevant, and witch-hunting system of pinning responsibility on a ghost's agent and loads of meaningless duplicity. Shipping bill and EGMs are contextually one and the same thing. A few additional information and authentication by the Carrier's agent on the Shipping Bill would render it to be the 'Export Manifest'. This simplification, would make a big dent on the much talked about 'transaction costs' on exports in our country.
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Brgds
Capt Rath
Capt Rath
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