Commercial Correspondence

Unit 5

Transportation

Faculty of English for Specific Purposes

Commercial Correspondence
 Methods of Transport

 Road transport
 Air transport
 Rail transport
 Sea transport
(Multimodal transport)

Faculty of English for Specific Purposes

2 Commercial Correspondence
 Sea transport
Types of Vessel

Liners Tramps
 General cargo liners  Bulk carriers

 Passenger liners  Tankers

 Passenger cargo vessels Barges

 Container vessels Lighters
 Roll-on roll-off ferries

Faculty of English for Specific Purposes

3 Commercial Correspondence
 Sea transport
Shipping Organizations
 The Shipping Conference: an international
organization of ship owners who meet
periodically to set prices for transporting goods
or passengers.
 The Baltic Exchange: has a number of
functions, but its freight market offers facilities to
exporters to charter (hire) ships and aircraft
through brokers.

Faculty of English for Specific Purposes

4 Commercial Correspondence
 Shipping
Shipping Documentation
 Freight account
 Shipping note
 Dock receipt
 Mate’s receipt
 Packing list
 Bill of lading (B/L)
 Letter of indemnity
Faculty of English for Specific Purposes
5 Commercial Correspondence
 Sea transport
Shipping Documentation
 Freight account: an invoice sent by the
shipping company to the exporter stating
their charges
(Bản kê vận phí/ phí vận tải)

Faculty of English for Specific Purposes

6 Commercial Correspondence
 Sea transport
Shipping Documentation
 Shipping note: a document completed
by the exporter and sent to the
forwarding agent or the docks. It is used
as a delivery note or receipt and gives
information about the goods.
(Phiếu gửi hàng)

Faculty of English for Specific Purposes

7 Commercial Correspondence
 Sea transport
Shipping Documentation
 Dock receipt: a receipt issued by an
ocean carrier to acknowledge receipt of
a shipment at the carrier's dock or
warehouse facilities.
(Biên lai kho cảng)

Faculty of English for Specific Purposes

8 Commercial Correspondence
 Shipping
Shipping Documentation
 Mate’s receipt: a document signed by
the chief officer of a vessel
acknowledging the receipt of a certain
consignment on board of that vessel.
(Biên lai thuyền phó/ Đơn nhận hàng của tầu)

Faculty of English for Specific Purposes

9 Commercial Correspondence
 Shipping
Shipping Documentation

Packing list: gives details of the
consignment. It may be required by
banks or the customs in some countries.
(Phiếu đóng gói/ liệt kê hàng hoá)

Faculty of English for Specific Purposes

10 Commercial Correspondence
 Shipping
Shipping Documentation
 Bill of lading (B/L): a receipt for
goods shipped on board a ship, stating
the terms on which the goods were
delivered to and received by the ship.
(Vận đơn đường biển)
It is also a document of title, i.e. it gives
ownership of the goods to the person
named on it.
Faculty of English for Specific Purposes
11 Commercial Correspondence
 Shipping
Shipping Documentation

Bill of lading: Salient points

1. Name of the shipper
2. Name of the carrying vessel
3. Full description of the cargo
4. Port of shipment
5. Port of discharge
6. Full details of freight (incl. how, when, where)

Faculty of English for Specific Purposes

12 Commercial Correspondence
 Shipping
Shipping Documentation

Bill of lading: Salient points

7. Name of the consignee or shipper’s order
8. Terms of contract of carriage
9. The date the goods were received/loaded
10.Number of original Bs/L
11.Signature of the ship’s Master or his
representative, and the date
Faculty of English for Specific Purposes
13 Commercial Correspondence
 Shipping
Shipping Documentation

Bill of lading: Salient points

If the words “To Order” are written in the
consignee box, it means that it is a
negotiable document and can be traded.

Faculty of English for Specific Purposes

14 Commercial Correspondence
 Shipping
Shipping Documentation

Bill of lading: Salient points

A “shipped B/L” or “shipped on board B/L”
means that the goods have been loaded onto
the ship.
(Vận đơn đã xếp hàng)

Faculty of English for Specific Purposes

15 Commercial Correspondence
 Shipping
Shipping Documentation
Bill of lading: Salient points
Bs/L are marked clean to indicate that the
consignment was taken on board in good
condition (Vận đơn sạch),
or claused to indicate that on inspection there
was something wrong with it, i.e. the goods
were damaged or there were some missing
(Vận đơn không sạch).
Faculty of English for Specific Purposes
16 Commercial Correspondence
 Shipping
Shipping Documentation
Bill of lading: Salient points
Bs/L can be made port to port. When
containers are used and are trans-shipped
from one mode of transport to another, e.g.
truck to ship and then to train, a Multimodal
B/L is used. (Through or Combined
Transport Bill)
(Vận đơn chở suốt hoặc Vận đơn hỗn hợp).
Faculty of English for Specific Purposes
17 Commercial Correspondence
 Shipping
Shipping Documentation
 Letter of indemnity: a written undertaking
by a consignee, who is unable to give the
original B/L in return for the goods, to
indemnify a carrier for any responsibility that
the carrier may incur for having delivered
the goods to them.
(Giấy bảo đảm/nhận bồi thường)

Faculty of English for Specific Purposes

18 Commercial Correspondence
 Sea transport
Shipping Liabilities
The Hague-Visby Rules, amended by the
Brussels Protocol of 1968, state that the
carrier is not responsible under the following
conditions:

Acts of war, riots, civil disturbances

Force Majeure

Negligence

Inherence Vice
Faculty of English for Specific Purposes
19 Commercial Correspondence
 CONTAINTER SERVICES
The use of containers provides a highly
efficient form of transport by road, rail and
air, though its fullest benefits are felt in
shipping where costs may be reduced by as
much as one half.

Faculty of English for Specific Purposes

20 Commercial Correspondence
Requests for freight and
loading/sailing dates

Faculty of English for Specific Purposes

Commercial Correspondence
 General guidelines in writing requests

1. State clearly and concisely what you want

right from the beginning.
2. Keep your request short and to the point,
easy to understand and easy to answer
3. Be reasonable
4. Provide complete and accurate information

Faculty of English for Specific Purposes

22 Commercial Correspondence
 Opening

First request: Tell your supplier what sort of

organization you are
•We are a large steel company and wish to
export a consignment of (name of goods) to
(place).

Faculty of English for Specific Purposes

23 Commercial Correspondence
 Opening

Give reason
• We intend to ship a consignment of (name
of goods) to (place) + (time).
• We shall shortly have a shipment of … to
be sent to/ for delivery to …
• We are due to ship a large quantity of …
• We wish to send a consignment of …

Faculty of English for Specific Purposes

24 Commercial Correspondence
 Details of the consignment

• The consignment consists of ... which have

been packed into ( … wooden crates/
cases), each measuring 4 x 2 x 2.5 metres
and weighing … kilos.
• The consignment consists of 4 wooden
crates marked 1-4, each containing 5
machines in their cases. Each crate weighs
… kilos and measures … cm.
Faculty of English for Specific Purposes
25 Commercial Correspondence
 Requests

• Please quote your inclusive rates on the

following consignment.
• Please let us know the present freight rates
for…
• Please advise us of the current rates of
freight on…
• Please inform us about the loading dates…

Faculty of English for Specific Purposes

26 Commercial Correspondence
 Requests

• Could you inform us which vessels are

available to reach London before the end of
next month and let us know your freight
rates?
• Please let us know the earliest vessel leaving
London for New Zealand, and let us have
your charges and the relevant documents.

Faculty of English for Specific Purposes

27 Commercial Correspondence
Replies to requests
for freight and loading/sailing dates

Faculty of English for Specific Purposes

Commercial Correspondence
 Opening

• In reply to your letter of..., the rates we can

quote you are as follows.
• Thank you for your enquiry of (date) regarding
your consignment to…We are pleased to quote as
follows.
• Thank you for your letter of ... Enclosed you will
find details of our rates and sailing schedule.

Faculty of English for Specific Purposes

29 Commercial Correspondence
 Details of freight or loading/sailing dates

• Our freight rate for crated consignments is

$91.00 per tonne or 10 cubic metres.
• The first available vessel we have will be the
MV Orient, which will accept cargo from … to
…, when she sails. She is due in London on …
Note: MV: Motor Vessel
MS: Motor Ship
SS: Steam Ship
Faculty of English for Specific Purposes
30 Commercial Correspondence
 Details of freight or loading/sailing dates

• The earliest vessel due out of London for New

Zealand is the Northern Cross, which is at
present loading at Dock No. 3 , …, and will
accept cargo until … when she sails.
• Weekly sailings are available from … to…
every Monday.

Faculty of English for Specific Purposes

31 Commercial Correspondence