NVOCC

An NVOCC buys space from shipping lines, often under service contracts, and resells it to shippers at its own rates and on its own terms. It issues a house bill of lading to the shipper and receives a master bill of lading from the vessel operator. To its customer it is the carrier, responsible for the cargo; to the shipping line it is the shipper. Many NVOCCs also run LCL consolidation services.

The term comes from US regulation, where NVOCCs and ocean freight forwarders are both ocean transportation intermediaries. The Federal Maritime Commission requires NVOCCs in US trades to hold a license or registration, post a bond, and publish tariffs or use negotiated rate arrangements. Elsewhere the same business model is common but rarely called NVOCC; it is simply a forwarder acting as principal under its own bills. A forwarder acting only as agent is not an NVOCC.

Because an NVOCC is liable as a carrier, its bill of lading terms, liability limits and insurance matter to its customers. For example, an NVOCC consolidating 15 LCL shipments into one 40-foot container issues 15 house bills and receives one master bill; at destination its agent unpacks the container and releases each shipment to its own consignee. Co-loaders are typically NVOCCs that sell LCL space to other forwarders rather than to cargo owners.