• Label

A slip of e.g. paper or metal attached to an object to indicate the nature, ownership, destination, contents and/or other particulars of the object

• Lash

To hold goods in position by the use of, e.g., wires, ropes, chains and straps.

• ShipLeasing Company

The company from which property or equipment is taken on lease.

• Less than Container Load

Abbreviation: LCL

A general reference for identifying cargo in any quantity intended for carriage in a container, where the Carrier is responsible for packing and/or unpacking the container

For operational purposes a LCL (Less than full container load) container is considered a container in which multiple consignments or parts thereof are shipped

Abbreviation: LTL

A term used if the quantity or volume of one or more consignment(s) does not fill a standard truck.

• Lessee

The party to whom the possession of specified property has been conveyed for a period of time in return for rental payments.

• Lessor

The party who conveys specified property to another for a period of time in return for the receipt of rent.

• Letter of Credit

Abbreviation: L/C

A written undertaking by a bank (issuing bank) given to the seller (beneficiary) at the request, and on the instructions of the buyer (applicant) to pay at sight or at a determinable future date up to a stated sum of money, within a prescribed time limit and against stipulated documents.

• Letter of Indemnity

Written statement in which one party undertakes to compensate another for the costs and consequences of carrying out a certain act. The issue of a letter of indemnity is sometimes used for cases when a shipper likes receiving a clean Bill of Lading while a carrier is not allowed to do so.

• Liability

Legal responsibility for the consequences of certain acts or omissions.

• Lien

A legal claim upon real or personal property to pay a debt or duty.

• Liner Conference

A group of two or more vessel-operating carriers, which provides international liner services for the carriage of cargo on a particular trade route and which has an agreement or arrangement to operate under uniform or common freight rates and any other agreed conditions (e.g. FEFC = Far Eastern Freight Conference).

• Liner In Free Out

Abbreviation: LIFO

Transport condition denoting that the freight rate is inclusive of the sea carriage and the cost of loading, the latter as per the custom of the port. It excludes the cost of discharging.

• Liner Terms

Condition of carriage denoting that costs for loading and unloading are borne by the carrier subject the custom of the port concerned.

• Lloyd's Register of Shipping

British classification society.