Tallying. This is the recording of cargo coming into and going out of a ship (or warehouse, or container.)
Tallying is carried out by persons who may be part of the stevedore company staff or independent and who are known as “tally clerks”. Tally clerks issue documents known as “tally clerks’ receipts”. In the New York Produce Exchange form of time charter, the “employment clause” states that the master, or the charterers or their agents, are to sign bills of lading “ . . . in conformity with Mate’s or tally clerk’s receipts”. Therefore the function of tally clerks is important to chartering practice and the master’s role in the performance of a charter: ‘The charterparty may also contain clauses specifying which party is to pay the costs of tallying.
