At Boloo Forwarding, it is standard practice to use the FCA or EXW incoterms for sea freight, and FOB is (almost) never used. The explanation for these incoterms can be found here: Which incoterm should I agree with my supplier?

There are two ways to ship your goods by sea: FCL (Full Container Load) or LCL (Less than Container Load). With FCL, you fill a container with the goods of one company. With LCL, you fill a container with the goods of multiple companies. Normally, many companies wouldn't be able to fill a whole container, so they would have to book a shipment in an LCL container. This is more expensive than an FCL container. Boloo Forwarding ensures that your shipment becomes an FCL container by combining shipments from different companies and filling a whole container, resulting in lower costs.

The benefits we achieve by shipping FCL with Boloo Forwarding:

Significant savings on FOB costs. When shipping LCL, you have to deliver the goods FOB, and the costs for this can add up, whether paid to the supplier or the forwarder. These costs include loading the goods into the container and onto the ship. The parties handling this process are independent and charge high fees. With FCL, we handle the container ourselves, fill it with all the goods, load it onto the ship ourselves, and then distribute the minimal FOB costs over the entire container, which we include in the CBM rate.

You know your goods are in good hands. A container at Boloo Forwarding is only filled with your goods and those of other Boloo Forwarding members. This means that when the container arrives at the port, it is directly transferred to our warehouse to prepare all shipments for delivery. This saves time, costs, and significantly reduces the risk of damage or loss of goods. With LCL, there are often companies that receive priority or have priority over others, resulting in delays and back-and-forth transportation.

"What about the Bill of Lading?"

The Bill of Lading is an official shipping document that indicates that the goods have been received in an acceptable condition and are ready for shipment. It specifies the contents of the cargo, the ports of shipment and destination, and the sender and receiver. We receive the Bill of Lading for the entire container, containing all the shipments, from the shipping line. In our own systems, we distinguish which goods belong to which company.

A B/L can be designated as 'transferable', meaning that ownership of the goods can be transferred from one party to another until delivery. In addition to the original Bill of Lading, we also work with Waybills, which are referred to by the reference number 21-XXXX-SEA. The Bill of Lading states that only Boloo Forwarding is authorized to receive the goods upon arrival at the port. Once we have done this and completed all the necessary paperwork, the shipment is cleared, ownership is transferred, and it is transported to the importer, which is you.

This article from Evofenedex provides more detailed information on the documents used in sea freight and what a Bill of Lading exactly is: Documents for sea freight.