Sea Waybill

The sea waybill is a transport document that, unlike the bill of lading, is not a document of title: the carrier delivers the cargo to the named consignee on identification, without requiring presentation of an original. This removes the risk of documents arriving after the ship and speeds up release at destination.

It suits flows where no trading of the goods in transit is intended — intra-group shipments, established commercial relationships — but is unsuitable when a bank requires a title document as security.