A cargo is a sequence of documents. Each one has to exist before the next step is taken.

The specification comes before the price. Grade or product, every limit with its test method, quantity and tolerance, the delivery basis with its named port, the pricing period and the inspection standard are written down and countersigned, because each is a ground on which a cargo can later be refused.

The seller is then checked against that specification: that the entity exists, that it is entitled to sell what it is offering, that it has lifted at this size before, and that neither it nor its beneficial owners appear on a list that would make dealing with it unlawful. Where the origin of the cargo carries a restriction, the attestation required is settled here rather than at the bank counter.

Quantity and quality are established at the load port by an independent inspector, on a scope written into the contract rather than agreed on the day. The buyer may nominate the inspector; where no nomination is made, inspection is by SGS, Bureau Veritas, Intertek, AmSpec or Saybolt.

Shore tank and ship's figures will differ. The contract already says which governs, so the difference is arithmetic rather than a dispute. Samples are drawn, sealed and retained, which is what allows a later disagreement to be tested instead of argued.

A vessel is not accepted because it is available. Ownership and beneficial ownership, flag, class, protection and indemnity cover and recent movements are reviewed before the nomination is taken, because a cargo is only as clean as the ship carrying it.

The transport document is then raised to match the contract and the credit exactly. Consignee, notify party, product description, quantity and marks are taken from those documents, not retyped from memory. Laytime and demurrage are on the terms already agreed, so the clock has a rule before it starts.

The payment instrument is read in full before it is accepted. A credit carrying a term that cannot be complied with is worse than no credit, because it converts a commercial transaction into a documentary dispute with a laden vessel attached.

Where a term cannot be met, an amendment is requested before loading. Presentation periods, the documents called for and the description of goods are checked against the contract line by line, because those three are where credits usually fail.

Documents are presented and the cargo is released against them. Title, risk and cost sit where the agreed Incoterm puts them, which is why the Incoterm is written into the contract with its named port and never left to custom.

Any claim is made within the window the contract states, against the inspection record and the retained samples taken at the load port. That record is the reason a claim can be settled rather than litigated.

Delivery terms are stated as an Incoterms 2020 rule with the named port, in full. An Incoterm without a named port is not a term, and a rule from an earlier edition is not the rule the parties believe it is.

Cargoes are lifted in Detail not yet confirmed: Origin markets. [•] and discharged into Detail not yet confirmed: Destination markets. [•]. A route is listed only once it has carried a cargo; a route that has been discussed is not a route that has been run.