The Obligations Of The Carrier Regarding The Cargo

This book addresses the legal and contractual obligations of sea carriers regarding due care for the cargo under a contract of carriage. While the general framework employed is the leading international liability regime, the Hague-Visby Rules, the discussions in each chapter also account for the possible future adoption of a new regime, the Rotterdam Rules. The subject matter concerns the standard for the duty of care for goods as codified in the Hague-Visby Rules, but the work also touches upon a wide range of related topics found both in law and in practice, providing valuable commercial, technical and historical links as well as various solutions that have been found at the national and international level to address challenges arising in this specialised area of law. The book is divided into six chapters, which gradually reveal the complexity of the topic. Chapter 1 provides a thorough introduction to the two main transport documents in use, and to the basic logic behind shipping, sea-going trade and related national and international legislation. In turn, Chapter 2 presents an overview of the relevant provisions of the Hague-Visby Rules. Chapters 3, 4 and 5 examine the problems arising out of the insertion of a FIOS(T) clause in the contract of carriage; the carriage of goods on deck; and the carriage of goods in containers, respectively. Lastly, Chapter 6 provides an overall conclusion on the legal status quo and current practice, as well as future prospects. The book was written with a number of potential readers in mind and is intended to open up the topic to a broader audience. It is suitable both for readers who wish to advance their learning (e.g. professionals, practitioners and postgraduates) and for readers with little or no prior knowledge of the topic (e.g. students and researchers).

This volume provides a critical analysis of the carrier's liability under both the Hague/Hague-Visby and Hamburg Rules. It also considers the question of whether or not the Hamburg Rules introduce a different liability regime and materially increase the carrier's liability vis-à-vis the Hague/Hague-Visby Rules. Focusing on Australian and English jurisprudence, the work demonstrates that, quite contrary to prevailing opinions, the Hamburg Rules do not significantly change the carrier's existing liability. Indeed, in a number of areas, the legal position of the carrier is ameliorated. On the basis that both international conventions do not differ materially in terms of practical legitimacy, concludes the author, it makes no fundamental difference whatsoever, within the general context of carrier liability, whether one convention or the other is adopted. This scholarly publication will be of particular interest to practising lawyers, law professors and students as well as professionals engaged in maritime transport.

The Rotterdam Rules represent the most comprehensive overhaul of the law of carriage of goods by sea in more than fifty years. To coincide with the signing ceremony, six members of the Institute of Maritime Law have written a detailed commentary on the Rules. The Rotterdam Rules: A Practical Annotation examines the text of the Rules, all ninety-six articles of the new Convention, and compares them to the text of the Hague-Visby Rules, the instrument currently covering most bills of lading. The authors have also examined the judgments in cases decided in the English Courts under the Carriage of Goods by Sea Acts of 1971 and 1992 and have indicated whether these cases would be decided differently under the new Rotterdam Rules.

Uniformity of Transport Law through International Regimes addresses the problem of uniformity of transport law and the potential solutions at international and EU levels. It concerns transport conventions and other instruments dealing mainly with carriage of goods by sea and multimodal transport as well as examining the Rotterdam Rules as one of the solutions towards uniformity in carriage of goods law. The discussion on international uniformity in transport law is complemented by an examination of regional harmonization in the context of EU law-making and jurisprudence in the field of international transport. The comparison between international and regional regimes reveals the complexities in application and interpretation of the certain transport conventions which is detrimental to achieving uniformity.

This book discusses the problem of sea carriers’ liability, with a particular focus on role of the technologies that have been employed to support maritime transport in recent decades. It examines the Hague Rules, providing an overview of the precedent standard of liability, its historical development up until its application, and its construction at the current time. To do so, it presents two exemplary studies from English and American case law, and analyzes the situations in which the courts have required the application of new technologies as part of the duties set in the current governing liability regime. Written in an easy-to-follow style, the book offers not only an unique overview of the applications of technologies in making ships both seaworthy and cargo-worthy, but also a practice-oriented guide to understanding and making decisions about sea carriers’ liability. It is intended for law practitioners as well as advanced graduate students and researchers in the field of maritime shipping, transport and insurance law

Written by a combination of top academics, industry experts and leading practitioners, this book offers a detailed insight into both unimodal and multimodal carriage of goods. It provides a comprehensive and thoroughly practical guide to the issues that matter today on what is a very complex area of law. From the papers delivered at the 8th International Colloquium organised by Swansea Law School's prestigious Institute of International Shipping and Trade Law, this original work considers current opinions, trends and issues arising from contracts of carriage of goods by sea, land, air, and multi-modal combinations of these, not to mention the legal position of vital participants such as freight forwarders, terminal operators and cargo insurers. The topics under discussion range through issues such as paperwork, piracy, liability for defective containers, damage in transit, the CMR Convention, and the possible effects of the Rotterdam Rules. An indispensable resource for transport lawyers, industry professionals, academics and post-graduate students of maritime law.