What is the difference between a booking and shipping instructions?

The booking reserves space and equipment on a vessel. The shipping instructions come later and enrich it with what the bill of lading needs — volumes, weights, dates, origin, destination and special instructions.

What happens if shipping instructions are late?

Carriers charge a late documentation fee — Maersk India, for example, USD 150 per bill of lading for 8 to 14 days — and some won't load the cargo at all without complete documents.

Term

Shipping instructions (SI)

Shipping instructions (SI) are the details a shipper sends the carrier after booking — volumes, weights, dates, origin and destination — from which the carrier creates the bill of lading. DCSA notes the SI itself has no legal status; it matters because the bill is built from it, and carriers charge when it arrives after the documentation cut-off.

Also called SI, shipping instruction, late SI fee, bill of lading instructionsUpdated 14 October 2026

From SI to bill of lading

The shipper books, and the carrier confirms space and equipment.
The shipper sends shipping instructions — DCSA calls them an enrichment of the original booking, carrying the information needed to create the bill of lading.
The carrier creates a draft bill of lading and sends it for review; if the draft is wrong, the shipper supplies the missing information.
The verify copy — the final draft — is approved, and the bill of lading is issued.

What carriers charge

Carrier and market	Charge
Maersk, India	Late documentation fee on a sliding scale: nil for 1–7 days, USD 150 per B/L for 8–14 days, USD 200 for 15–21 days
Maersk, Germany	EUR 50 per B/L when the instructions reach Maersk after the vessel sails
Maersk, UAE	Manual documentation fee for SI instructions: AED 300 per B/L
Hapag-Lloyd, Hong Kong	Late SI fee HKD 600 per B/L for an SI received after the documents cut-off
CMA CGM, US (2023 sheet)	Late SI USD 100 per B/L; amendments USD 75 per B/L, per request
MSC, India (2026)	Late document submission INR 1,000 per B/L

Carriers' published local charges

Amendments cost too: Maersk says a charge may apply once the verify copy has been issued or the container has been loaded on the vessel. In India, Maersk's rule for exports under ICEGATE 2.0 is blunt — no document, no load.

Worked example: a late SI from India

3 bills of lading, SI 10 days late with Maersk India → 3 × USD 150 = USD 450 · one consignee name then corrected after the verify copy → an amendment charge on top

Fee scale from Maersk India's published local charges; the shipment is illustrative.

The mistake people make

Treating the SI as a formality. The bill of lading is built from it, so a wrong consignee or cargo description in the SI becomes a wrong bill, and putting that right after the verify copy or after loading costs an amendment fee — or, where the bill is needed to collect payment, a delayed payment.

FAQ