A received-for-shipment bill of lading denotes that merchandise has been received, but is not guaranteed to have already been loaded onto a shipping vessel.
There are two types of bill of lading, a straight bill which is issued to a named consignee that is not negotiable; and an order bill, which is negotiable.
In truth the arbitrator inferred an election, and communication of it, from the tenor of the rejection telex and the failure, inter alia, to tender the bill of lading.