Carriage by sea of components of a power station on board the Time Hope from Ulsan (South Korea) to Kuantan (Malaysia) on the basis of a fixture note agreed between NEM Energy BV (NEM) as 'charterer' and M-Star Freight Services BV (M-Star) 'on behalf of the owners'. The draft bill of lading named NEM as 'shipper' and Zalpha Resources Sdn Bhd​ (Zalpha) as 'consignee'. During loading/stowage of the ship some components were damaged. Zalpha and its insurer AXA Affin General Insurance Bhd​ (AXA) claimed damages from M-Star.

Held: The characteristic of a bill of lading is that it is a negotiable instrument, the transfer or which before the delivery of the goods mentioned therein constitutes the transfer of those goods, with the result that only the regular holder of a bill of lading has the right to demand delivery of the goods from the carrier under the bill of lading in accordance with the carrier's obligations. The holder must present the document to actually obtain delivery.

In this case the document shows 'BILL OF LADING' at the top right-hand corner and 'CONCEPT B/L' [ie DRAFT B/L in Dutch]. It has neither been argued, nor has it become evident that a signed original bill of lading has been issued. AXA supposes that a document has been brought into circulation and has been presented, but it is not aware of a signed copy of the draft bill of lading. Since M-Star's general manager, who was present during the discharge, declared that no original or draft bill of lading has been presented, is has not been established that the document at hand is a bill of lading.

This, however, does not mean that the Hague-Visby Rules do not apply. After all, the Hague-Visby Rules also apply to a document that is similar to a bill of lading. In the case at hand it was the original intention of NEM and M-Star that an original bill of lading was to be issued. In that case, there is a 'similar document' within the meaning of art 1.b of the Hague-Visby Rules.