Chapter 2 of B/L:

More explanation about B/L

A BILL OF LADING may be issued as a house bill of lading or a master bill of lading. 

1. A House Bill of Lading (HBL) is issued by NVOCC operator or a Freight Forwarder to their customers.
2. A Master Bill of Lading (MBL) is issued by the shipping line (carrier) to the NVOCC operator or a Freight Forwarder.

When issued for a FCL as well as LCL shipment (non-groupage), a HBL should always be issued on back to back basis with an MBL which means that the HBL should be an EXACT replica of MBL issued by a shipping line in respect of all details except the shipper, consignee and notify party details which will be different in the HBL and MBL.

HBL: 

1. In the HBL the shipper will be usually be the actual shipper/exporter of the cargo (or as dictated by the L/C).
2. The consignee will usually be the actual receiver/importer of the cargo (or as dictated by the L/C).
3. The notify could be same as consignee (or any other party as dictated by L/C)

MBL: 

1. In the MBL the shipper will usually be the NVOCC operator or the agent or the Freight Forwarder.
2. The consignee will usually be the destination agent or counter part or office of the NVOCC operator or the Freight Forwarder
3. The notify could be the same as consignee or any other party.

In the interest of insurance coverage/exposure, it is recommended that all the details on the HBL and MBL like vessel, voyage information, cargo description, number of containers, seal number, weight and measurement should remain same. The only difference should be in the shipper, consignee and notify details.

Unless disallowed by L/C the HBL is also used/treated as negotiable document and can be considered to fulfill the roles of bill of lading but due care must be taken when using HBL as negotiable document as sometimes it can be used for a counter productive and dangerous practices of consigning the HBL and MBL exactly the same which means that there are two sets of B/L issued by the two different entities for the same cargo.

Such issues can happen due to the ignorance of the NVOCC or Freight Forwarder. 

Below are the templates  of MBL and HBL


MBL of the carrier maersk line

 HBL of  Freight Forwarder INTEGRAL LOGISTICS SERVICES PVT.LTD.