Without prejudice in shipping, and 'for receipt only'

"Without prejudice" in shipping, like "for receipt only", is what you write next to a signature when you sign a document in a port without agreeing to it. You sign for receiving the document, not for the facts in it and not for what follows from it. The ship does it all the time; a surveyor usually does not sign at all.

What the words do

If you sign a protest or a report plainly, the other side can say: you signed this, so you accepted what it says. Adding "without prejudice", or "received for receipt only", takes that away. The document is acknowledged as received, the facts stay open and no legal consequences follow from the signature.

West of England P&I's guidelines for ships' personnel give the two usual forms for the crew: "received without prejudice and without admission of liability", or "received without prejudice and for receipt only". Such a signature shows the letter arrived and admits nothing.

Who signs, and who does not

A protest needs a signature from somewhere, and in practice the ship signs, with the words above. The sector specialist's practice as a surveyor is not to sign protests at all: a surveyor is not a party, the ship is not theirs and the cargo is not theirs, so there is nothing to sign for. If a surveyor does sign, it is with a stamp that reads "without prejudice", so the signature means receipt only and the ship can still hand over its own protest, which is then accepted as received.

For what a protest says and when to send one, see letter of protest versus note of protest.

What the words do not do

They do not make a report safe from evidence. In English law "without prejudice" protects genuine attempts to settle a dispute, and a heading alone does not create that protection, especially where no dispute exists yet (Law Society, 2026). The Japan P&I Club draws a similar practical line for masters: a surveyor's document that states only the facts of damage can be signed "without prejudice, receipt only", while a master should resist signing one that states liability. See inspection certificate and inspection report.

In the file

Keep the signed copy with the time of signature next to the protest or report. If the protest was handed over late, the time shows when the ship had it; the statement of facts records the same event.

Based on the working practice of our sector specialist: 25 years in the port, 20 of them as a cargo surveyor. A surveyor does not sign protests; if one has to be signed, it is for receipt only.