Law of carriage of goods by sea
The law of carriage of goods by sea is a body of law that governs the rights and duties of shippers, carriers and consignees of marine cargo.[1]
Primarily concerned with
The typical obligations of a carrier by sea to a shipper of cargo are:
- to provide a seaworthy ship
- to issue a bill of lading
- to "properly and carefully load, handle, stow, carry, keep, care for, and discharge the goods carried".[2]
- to proceed with "reasonable despatch"[3]
- to follow the agreed route (and not to deviate from it).[4][5]
Cargo claims
Consignees (or indeed any lawful holder of the bill of lading)[6] who wishes to make a cargo claim because their goods are substandard or have been lost or damaged at sea, typically have four options:
- They may sue the seller, the shipper, or the carrier; or they may claim from their own insurance policy.
- A suit will lie against the seller if the seller has insufficient title,[7] or the goods are not of satisfactory quality,[8] or do not comply with sample[9] or description.[10]
- A suit will lie against the shipper if the goods are damaged through insufficient packing,[11][12] or if any loss is suffered through insufficient labelling.[13][14][15]
- A suit will lie against the carrier if the damage occurred aboard ship.[16] The carrier's P&I Club cover will normally bear the cost.
- If the cargo is damaged where the shipper without fault (e.g. if the goods have been properly packed and stowed) or if the carrier is either blameless or exempted from liability[17] (e.g. because of 'Act of God' or 'Justifiable Deviation'),[18][19][20][21] a cargo-owner will have to claim on his own cargo policy.
A claim having been paid, the assured's rights of claim will be subrogated to the insurer, who may consider proceeding against a party who has caused the damage.
A shipowner may sue a time-charterer or voyage-charterer in the event of breach of contract. For instance, if the charterer exceeds laytime, demurrage will have to be paid; and if the charterer cannot comply with a Notice of Readiness (NOR), the shipowner may repudiate (cancel) the contract of carriage and claim damages for any loss.[22]
Carriage conventions
In most contracts of carriage the carrier has greater bargaining power than the shipper, and in the 19th century English judges developed rules to protect the weaker parties.
The Hague Rules of 1924 effectively
The enormous list of exemptions to liability in Article IV made the Rules seem biased in favour of the carrier. As a result, The United Nations produced its own Hamburg Rules which were both more modern and fairer to cargo-owners; but while these have been enthusiastically adopted by developing nations, the wealthier ship-owning nations have stuck to Hague-Visby. In 2008 the final text of the Rotterdam Rules was agreed at
China has effectively adopted the Hague Rules. The USA, which tends to shun conventions and instead rely on homespun legislation, has its own
Relevant statutes and sources
- Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1971 - UK
- Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1992- UK
- Carriage of Goods by Sea Act - (USA)
- Harter Act- USA
References
- ^ The Law of Carriage of Goods by Sea (2011) - L.Singh
- Hague-Visby RulesArt III rule 2.
- ^ M’Andrew v Adams (1834) 1 Bing NC 29
- ^ Glynn v Margetson
- Hague-Visby RulesArt IV rule 4.
- ^ Bill of lading, or sea way bill or ship's delivery order: Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1992 ss.1 & 2
- ^ Sale of Goods Act1979 (as amended), section 12
- ^ Sale of Goods Act1979 (as amended), section 14
- ^ Sale of Goods Act1979 (as amended), section 15
- ^ Sale of Goods Act1979 (as amended), section 13
- ^ Hague Visby Rules Art. IV Rule 2(n)
- ^ Goodwin v Lamport and Holt [1929] All ER 623
- ^ Hague Visby Rules Art. III
- ^ Parsons v New Zealand Shipping [1901] KB 548
- ^ Bunge v Brasil [2009] 2 Lloyds Rep 175
- ^ Hague-Visby Rules Arts. II & III
- ^ Hague-Visby Rules Art IV
- ^ The Teutonia (1872) LR 4 PC 171
- ^ The Al Taha [1990] 2 LL R 117
- ^ Stag Line v Foscolo, Mango & Co [1932] AC 328
- ^ Scaramanga v Stamp (1880) 5 CPD 295
- ^ Maredelanto Compania Naviera SA v Bergbau-Handel GmbH|The Mihalis Angelos
- ^ M'Andrew v Adams (1834) 1 Bing NC 29
- ^ ...such as "Act of God", "Perils of the Sea" and "negligence in navigation or management of the ship").
- ^ e.g. Hague-Visby Rules Art. IV (1) & (2)
- ^ Principles of the Carriage of Goods by Sea -Paul Todd
- ^ The Glenfruin (1885) 10 PD 103
- ^ McFadden v Blue Star Line [1905] 1 KB 697
- ^ UNCITRAL: United Nations Commission of International Trade Law.
- ^ Lexology report