Terms of Service

1. Agreement to these terms

If you do not accept these terms, please do not use the services. Acceptance can be given by conduct as well as by signature; a booking that proceeds after these terms have been sent to you is a booking made on these terms.

2. The Company and the counter

Millennium Sea Company Limited is the provider of the services described in these terms. The Company runs a trade counter for cargo hold booking and an integrated systems design practice that supports the counter with software, registers and audit routines.

The counter address is Rm 501 5/F Belgian Bank Bldg, 721-725 Nathan Rd, Mong Kok, Hong Kong - 999077, Hong Kong (HK). The contact email address is accounts@huixintrade.buzz and the telephone number is +12792840746. Notices under these terms should be sent to the counter address or by email to the contact address, and they take effect when they are received during business hours.

The Company may use clerks, suppliers and contractors to perform parts of the services, but the Company remains responsible to the client for the work it has agreed to perform.

3. Scope of the services

The services are the six desks described on the services page: hold allocation bays, consignment note runs, sailing tally desks, freight quote windows, damage claim reviews and port call audits. Each desk can be engaged on its own or as part of the full chain, and the scope of a particular engagement is set by the written confirmation that the counter sends after an enquiry.

The Company does not act as a carrier, a shipowner or an insurer. It does not take possession of cargo and it does not issue a bill of lading. Where a carrier or a port authority imposes a rule, that rule applies to the sailing regardless of anything in these terms, and the Company will tell the client when such a rule affects the booking.

Anything not expressly confirmed in writing is outside the scope of an engagement. If a client needs work that is not on the six desks, the counter will say whether it can be done and, if it can, will confirm the scope before starting.

4. Booking and confirmation

A booking begins when a client sends a request with the lane, the volume and the sailing date. The counter acknowledges the request within the port call window and then prepares a hold plan with a proposed bay assignment. A booking is confirmed only when the counter sends written confirmation of the allocation and the client has accepted it, whether by email or by signing the note at the counter.

The client is responsible for the accuracy of the details supplied at booking. A declared weight that turns out to be wrong, or a cargo description that omits a handling requirement, may force the allocation to be revised and may attract a charge for the change. The counter will always raise the issue before acting, so that the client can decide whether to adjust the booking or accept the revised plan.

A booking that is requested but not confirmed does not reserve a bay. The counter may offer the bay to another shipper after a stated period, and it will tell the first client when that period is about to expire.

5. Hold allocation

The hold allocation desk assigns bays on the vessel hold plan and records the assignment in the allocation register. An assignment is made on the basis of the declared cargo and the information available at the time. Where a bay is shared, the plan records the division and both clients receive the same mark.

The counter may revise an allocation where a vessel changes its hold plan, where a late booking requires room, or where the declared cargo cannot safely be carried as described. A revision will be communicated to the affected clients as soon as it is known, and any change to the freight figure will be stated plainly rather than absorbed into a later invoice.

Bays that are held for a partial load are released on the date stated in the confirmation if the cargo has not arrived. A release is recorded in the register with the reason and the date, so that a later audit can see what was promised and what was actually used.

6. Consignment notes

A consignment note is opened when a client agrees to space. The note records the shipper, the consignee, the cargo description, the declared value where one is given and the signature of the clerk who accepted it. The note becomes the reference against which the manifest, the tally and any later claim are checked.

A note that is incomplete may be held on the run sheet until the missing document arrives. The counter will not sign a note it cannot verify, because a note that overstates or understates a consignment creates a problem that follows the vessel to the next port. Where a note has to be corrected after signature, the correction is written on the face of the note with initials and a date.

The client is responsible for the truth of the declaration in the note. If a declaration is found to be materially wrong, the Company may suspend the note, require a corrected declaration and, where the law allows, charge the additional handling that follows.

7. Sailing tallies

The tally desk counts what crosses the rail and closes the sheet before the vessel clears the harbour. A tally records the count actually observed, including differences from the note. The client receives a copy on request, and the original stays with the sailing file.

A tally is a record of observation, not a guarantee of the cargo condition before loading. If a pallet was already damaged when it reached the quay, the tally will say so, and the claim review will separate that finding from anything that happened after loading. The Company will not alter a tally to match a note, because a tidy story that hides a difference is worse for everyone than an honest sheet.

Where a client disputes a tally, the client should raise the point within seven days of receiving the copy. The counter will re-examine the sheet, the hold plan and the note, and will correct the record if the evidence supports a correction.

8. Freight quotes and rates

Freight quotes are issued during the quote window of the counter day. Each quote carries the date, the author and the expiry, together with the lanes it covers and any surcharge that may apply. A quote that has expired is no longer valid and must be reissued if the client wishes to rely on it.

A quote is based on the information supplied at the time. If the volume, weight, lane or sailing date changes, the quote may be revised. The counter will state a revised figure before it is applied and will not silently substitute a higher rate for an agreed one.

Rates that depend on a carrier, a port or a fuel surcharge are quoted as a base figure with the variable element named separately. The client should read the named element before accepting the quote, and should ask the counter to explain it if the basis is not clear.

9. Invoices and payment

Invoices are issued after the sailing or at the point stated in the confirmation. They show the services performed, the freight figure and any agreed charges for changes. Payment is due within the period stated on the invoice, which is thirty days from the invoice date unless the confirmation sets a different term.

Where a payment is late, the Company may charge interest on the outstanding balance at a reasonable rate and may suspend new bookings for the account until the balance is cleared. The counter will send a reminder before taking either step, so that a client who is late because of a bank delay is not treated as a client who has refused to pay.

A client who disputes an invoice should write to accounts@huixintrade.buzz within fourteen days with the items in question. The undisputed part of the invoice remains payable, and the counter will investigate the disputed part without holding the whole account hostage.

10. Damage claims

A damage claim review compares the consignment note, the hold plan and the tally sheet and records what the evidence supports. A claim should be sent within thirty days of the arrival, with the note number, the sailing date and any available photographs or survey notes.

The Company will conduct the review within the period agreed with the client and will state its findings in writing. The review is a record of evidence, not a legal judgment, and the client remains free to pursue any right against a carrier or an insurer. The Company will assist with the review to the extent the records allow.

The Company will not alter a record to support or defeat a claim. If the evidence is ambiguous, the review will say so and identify the missing document that would resolve the point.

11. Port call audits

A port call audit reconciles the promises made at booking with the records produced at the quay. The audit sheet is sent to the client who requested it and is kept with the sailing file. Findings that reveal a weakness in the chain may be shared with the counter staff so that the next booking avoids the same problem.

An audit is prepared from the records that exist for the sailing. Where a record is missing, the audit will say so rather than infer a fact. Clients should not treat an audit as a substitute for a survey or as an opinion on liability.

The Company may use patterns from audits in anonymous form to improve its own routines. It will not publish a client name or a sailing detail that could identify a client without that client agreement.

12. Client responsibilities

The client is responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the information supplied at booking, for the lawful nature of the cargo, and for the packing that will survive the sailing described in the booking. The client is also responsible for having the authority to book the cargo and for telling the counter about any handling requirement before the note is signed.

The client should keep the counter informed of changes as soon as they are known. A late change is more expensive than an early one, and the counter can often absorb an early change without disturbing the hold plan.

Where the client provides details about a driver, a consignee contact or another individual, the client is responsible for ensuring that the individual knows the details will be passed to the counter for the sailing.

13. Prohibited cargo

The services may not be used for cargo that is prohibited by the law of Hong Kong or of any jurisdiction through which the vessel passes. The counter will refuse a booking that it knows to involve prohibited goods, and it will report a suspicious request where the law requires it.

Dangerous goods may be booked only where the correct declaration has been supplied and the carrier has agreed to carry them. The client must provide the classification and the handling instructions, and the counter will check that the hold plan can accommodate them before confirming a bay.

A booking that conceals prohibited or undeclared dangerous goods may be suspended immediately, and the client may be liable for any cost that follows, including the cost of unloading and storage.

14. Cancellation and changes

A client may cancel a booking before the note is signed. Where a bay has already been blocked for the sailing, the counter may charge for the work already done, and it will state that charge in the confirmation so that the client knows the position in advance.

A change to a sailing date, lane or volume should be requested as early as possible. The counter will try to accommodate the change on the hold plan, and where the plan has to be redrawn the revised allocation will be sent for acceptance.

Where the Company cancels a booking because the vessel is withdrawn or the hold plan cannot accommodate the cargo, the Company will tell the client as soon as it is known and will refund any unearned charge.

15. Liability

The Company will perform the services with the skill and care of a reasonable trade counter. Where the Company fails to do so and loss follows, the Company will answer for that loss in accordance with these terms and the law that applies.

The Company is not liable for loss caused by a carrier, a port authority, a warehouse operator or another party beyond its control, nor for loss caused by inaccurate information supplied by the client. The Company is not liable for indirect or consequential loss, such as loss of profit or loss of a later contract, except where the law does not allow that limit.

Where liability is not excluded, the total liability of the Company for a sailing is limited to the amount of the fee charged for the services on that sailing. This limit does not apply to fraud, to wilful misconduct, or to any liability that the law says cannot be limited.

16. Events beyond control

Neither party is liable for a failure to perform caused by an event beyond reasonable control, such as a typhoon, a port closure, a strike, a government order, a failure of a public network or an epidemic. The affected party should tell the other as soon as it is aware and should take reasonable steps to reduce the effect.

Where an event beyond control prevents a sailing, the counter will work with the client to rebook the cargo or to release the bay, and it will not charge for work it did not perform. The records of the cancelled sailing will stay with the file, because a later claim may depend on them.

An event that lasts for a prolonged period may allow either party to end the engagement. Any charge for work already performed remains payable.

17. Web content and intellectual property

The text, layout and design of this website belong to Millennium Sea Company Limited. You may read the pages, print a copy for your own reference and share a link, but you may not republish the text as your own or use the design to create a lookalike site.

The hold plan, the tally sheet and the consignment note formats used at the counter belong to the Company. A client may use a copy of a document that concerns the client shipments, and may share it with a carrier, insurer or adviser involved in the sailing.

Nothing in these terms transfers ownership of the software behind the counter or of the registers that run it. Access to a register is a service, not a sale.

18. Confidentiality

Each party will keep the other party confidential information private and will use it only for the purpose of the engagement. This covers rates, cargo details, client lists and the internal workings of the counter.

Confidentiality does not apply to information that is already public, that the receiving party already held lawfully, or that the law requires the receiving party to disclose. Where a disclosure is required, the receiving party should tell the other party where that is lawful and possible.

The duty of confidentiality continues after an engagement ends, for as long as the information remains confidential.

19. Privacy

Personal information is handled as described in the Privacy Policy, which forms part of these terms. The policy explains what is collected, why it is used, how long it is kept and how a person may exercise the privacy rights available under the law.

Where these terms and the Privacy Policy appear to conflict on a matter of personal information, the Privacy Policy takes precedence. Where they conflict on a commercial matter, these terms take precedence.

A request about a record should be sent to accounts@huixintrade.buzz with the sailing date and the note number, so that the office manager can find the file without a long search.

20. Governing law and disputes

These terms are governed by the law of Hong Kong. The parties submit to the jurisdiction of the courts of Hong Kong for any dispute that cannot be resolved by discussion.

Before starting a court case, the parties should attempt to resolve the matter by written discussion over a period of thirty days. A written notice of a dispute should set out the facts, the amount in question and the outcome sought.

Nothing in this section prevents a party from seeking urgent relief from a court where a delay would cause harm that cannot be repaired.

21. Suspension and termination

The Company may suspend the services for an account where an invoice remains unpaid after a reminder, where prohibited cargo is suspected, or where the client information cannot be verified. A suspension will be confirmed in writing with the reason and the step needed to lift it.

Either party may end an engagement by written notice. Ending an engagement does not cancel a sailing already confirmed, which will be completed under the terms that applied when it was confirmed, and does not remove the duty to pay for work already done.

The records of a terminated engagement are kept for the period described in the Privacy Policy, because a later claim or audit may depend on them.

22. Changes to these terms

The Company may update these terms from time to time. A material change will be shown by a new date at the top of the page and, where it affects a live engagement, will be sent to the client before it takes effect.

A booking confirmed before a change will remain governed by the terms in force when it was confirmed, unless the client agrees to the new terms for that booking.

Continuing to use the services after a change takes effect is treated as acceptance of the updated terms.

23. Contact

Questions about these terms should be sent to Millennium Sea Company Limited, Rm 501 5/F Belgian Bank Bldg, 721-725 Nathan Rd, Mong Kok, Hong Kong - 999077, Hong Kong (HK), or by email to accounts@huixintrade.buzz, or by telephone on +12792840746 during business hours.

The counter is open Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 18:00 and on Saturday from 10:00 to 14:00. The port call window opens at 9:30 each working day, and a request filed before the spike is cleared is read the same day.

Thank you for reading these terms. The counter would rather answer a question now than resolve a dispute later.