Overview
The commercial coordinator may hold several documents describing the cargo in different ways and at different stages. The task is to show how the business is using each one, which source can clarify it and what decisions remain open. Technical measurement conclusions and legal positions belong with the responsible specialists and authorised reviewers.
Key takeaways
- Preserve the original issued evidence and its stated units.
- Distinguish source documents from internal calculations and commercial positions.
- Record the exact discrepancy being investigated without inventing its cause.
- Assign technical, accounting and contractual questions to the appropriate owners.
- Transfer unresolved matters with an explicit decision status.
Identify what each document represents
Begin with a document index that records the issuer, reference, issue date, stated quantity or energy basis and intended use. The incoming colleague should know whether an item is source evidence, an internal reconciliation or correspondence about a possible difference.
GIIGNL provides custody-transfer guidance covering LNG measurement and calculation practices. The document basis therefore deserves explicit attention in the commercial record. GIIGNL technical resources.
Do not replace the issuer's unit or description with a convenient shorthand that could change its meaning. If the internal system requires a different representation, retain the original and link the authorised transformation separately.
A file can contain several valid figures serving different purposes. The handover should not label them inconsistent until the responsible team has established whether they are intended to measure the same thing on the same basis.
The coordinator's role is to make the comparison question precise. It is not to decide which document is technically correct because it appears more recent or comes from a familiar sender.
Separate evidence, calculation and position
Source evidence records what an issuing party has supplied. An internal calculation applies a method or assumption to selected inputs. A commercial position states what a party believes should follow under the relevant arrangement. These layers should be linked but remain distinguishable.
A handover that mixes them can make an internal working adjustment look like an agreed correction. It can also cause a provisional concern to be repeated externally as though the business has reached a settled claim position.
| Record layer | What it contains | Handover control |
|---|---|---|
| Issued evidence | Original document and stated basis | Preserve intact with issuer reference |
| Internal reconciliation | Inputs, formulas and assumptions | Identify preparer, status and source links |
| Technical question | Specific point requiring specialist explanation | Name the responsible reviewer and requested answer |
| Commercial calculation | Amount or consequence modelled for review | State the agreement basis assumed |
| Legal or contractual position | Authorised interpretation or unresolved issue | Keep status and approval route explicit |
| External correspondence | What has actually been communicated | Retain exact message and recipient record |
The table helps the incoming team avoid widening a statement beyond the layer it belongs to. A technical question can remain open even when the arithmetic of an internal model is correct.
Describe discrepancies without diagnosing them
If two figures differ, state the references and the precise basis of comparison. Identify whether their units, dates, cargo scope or calculation purpose match. Ask the responsible source to clarify any uncertainty.
Avoid supplying a physical explanation from commercial intuition. A difference may require specialist assessment, or it may arise because the documents answer different questions. The handover should preserve both possibilities until evidence resolves them.
Where a numerical reconciliation has been prepared, keep its formulas and source inputs available for review. Label any assumed conversion or valuation clearly and obtain the appropriate validation before using the result for a commercial position.
Do not overwrite a source figure to make a report reconcile. If the business uses an adjusted internal value, show it as a separate entry with its reason and approval status. The original evidence should remain available for later review.
Assign the question to the right discipline
A measurement-basis question belongs with the appropriate technical source. A formula or accounting treatment question belongs with the responsible analyst or finance team. A question about rights, settlement or notice belongs with the authorised commercial and legal reviewers.
Some matters cross those boundaries. The coordinator can link the workstreams and identify their dependencies. For example, a commercial calculation may wait for clarification of the quantity basis before legal review can assess its significance.
Check the current agreement when contractual consequences are considered. Do not infer a claim right or an acceptance obligation from the presence of a discrepancy in the file.
The handover should state what each owner is being asked to answer. A broad instruction to resolve the quantity issue can leave several teams assuming that another person is dealing with the important part.
Fictional case: a working adjustment becomes a position
A fictional LNG operations analyst notices that an internal settlement worksheet does not match a source document. To continue preparing a management report, the analyst adds a provisional adjustment and leaves a short comment requesting review.
The file is handed to a colleague without a decision index. The colleague sees the adjusted total and assumes that it represents the business's agreed position. Before sending it externally, a reviewer asks for the supporting references and discovers that the quantity-basis question remains open.
The team restores a clear separation between the issued evidence, the provisional calculation and the commercial position. It assigns the basis question to the appropriate source, the spreadsheet review to finance and the agreement question to the authorised commercial team.
The next handover identifies each item's status and the fact that no external position has yet been approved. The business can investigate the difference without allowing an internal convenience adjustment to become an unintended assertion.
Preserve external communication status
The incoming coordinator should know what has already been sent to counterparties and what remains an internal draft. Attach the exact message reference and any response, rather than summarising all correspondence as discussed.
Where a clarification request has been sent, record whether the other party acknowledged it, answered it or raised a further question. These stages affect the next action and should not be collapsed into a single correspondence-complete label.
If an authorised position is later revised, preserve the earlier communication and the superseding message. The history may matter to the responsible reviewers, and deleting it would make the commercial record less reliable.
Close the handover with explicit ownership
List the unresolved items in decision order: missing evidence, technical clarification, calculation review and commercial determination as applicable. Identify who owns the next action and who needs the resulting answer.
Obtain acknowledgment that the receiving team has access to the records and accepts the open work. A shared drive transfer does not prove that the specialist or commercial question has a new owner.
Retain restricted evidence through its authorised access route. The handover index can point to it without copying it into an unrestricted archive.
Common mistakes
Treating every different figure as an error ignores the possibility that documents use different bases or serve different purposes.
Another mistake is to overwrite issued evidence with an internal adjustment. Preserve the source and show the adjustment separately with its status.
Finally, avoid turning a working reconciliation into an external position without the required review. The handover should state what has been approved and what remains under investigation.
Where Zeaclub fits
Zeaclub provides a multi-party shared workspace for owners, charterers, brokers and port agents.
Zeaclub offers digitalised procedures across the voyage workflow.
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Educational information only; not legal, financial or trading advice. Contract wording and applicable rules control. Verify current requirements and obtain qualified advice before acting.
Frequently asked questions
Should the coordinator decide which quantity is correct?
The coordinator identifies the comparison question and routes it to the responsible source. Technical correctness and contractual significance require the appropriate specialist and authorised review.
Can internal calculations be included in the handover?
Yes. Label them clearly, retain their inputs and formulas and distinguish provisional assumptions from validated results or agreed commercial positions.
What if the discrepancy has already been raised externally?
Preserve the exact communication, response status and authorised owner. The incoming team needs to know what was actually said, not just that the matter was discussed.
When is the handover complete?
It is complete when the receiving team can locate the evidence, understand the status of each workstream and identify its next actions. Unresolved questions may remain, but their ownership should not.