In practice: on consolidated and LCL shipments, several HBLs sit under one MBL. At destination the shipping line releases the container to the forwarder's agent against the MBL, and the agent then releases each customer's cargo against the matching HBL. Before paying, check who issued your HBL and that the company is real and verifiable: fake house bills for cargo that was never loaded are a known fraud pattern.

Example: three buyers in Nairobi consolidate their goods in Jebel Ali into one 40ft container. The line issues one MBL to the forwarder; each buyer receives an HBL, and the destination agent splits the cargo at the CFS in Mombasa.