The Rotterdam Rules

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.

The international carriage of goods by sea has been regulated by international conventions. These include the “International Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules of Law relating to Bills of Lading” (“Hague Rules”); the “Protocol to Amend the International Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules of Law Relating to Bills of Lading” (“Visby Rules”); and the “UN Convention on the Carriage of Goods by Sea." They were adopted in 1924, 1968 and 1978 respectively and the transport industry's commercial needs have since substantially changed. Furthermore the advent of subsequent regimes has resulted in the uniformity in the carriage of goods by sea once provided by the Hague Rules being lost. In order to update and modernize existing regimes the “UN Convention on Contracts for the International Carriage of Goods Wholly or Partly by Sea” (“Rotterdam Rules”) was adopted on December 11, 2008 by the UN General Assembly and opened for signature on September 23, 2009. Since then drafters of the Rotterdam Rules, academics and practitioners have been publicizing, discussing, and evaluating the Rules. This book is an effort to further explore those same goals.

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.

This book is based on papers presented at the Sixth International Colloquium organised by the Institute of International Shipping and Trade Law, Swansea University, in September 2009. The sixteen contributions have been written by a team of international experts who collectively submit the newly proposed Rotterdam Rules to asustained, penetrative and comprehensive analysis. The scale of the Rotterdam Rules is staggeringly wide, as also are their detail and complexity, and coming to a full understanding of the provisions and implications ofthe Rules represents a challenge even to those experienced in the law and practice of commercial shipping. This book examines virtually all aspects of the Rules and will provide an effective, reliable and readable guide to everyone seeking a complete grasp of the Rules.

This book offers an original academic study of the Rotterdam Rules. It analyses the salient articles that will have an impact on international sale contracts governed by English law, including the most popularly used international law instruments, terms and standard sale contracts. Looking beyond the legal relationship of carrier-shipper and carrier-receiver, this book examines the important articles of the Rotterdam Rules that affect the ability of the trading protagonists to perform their sale contract.

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).

The regime governing the carriage of goods by sea has been for a long time the subject of criticism, such as for being out of date, fragmented, uncoordinated with other related transport regimes, leading to unpredictable results, or posing obstacles to the development of modern contract practices. The Hamburg Rules, prepared in 1978 with a view to improving the situation, have in the meantime entered into force but fell short of expectations in that they have not become a basis for a universally accepted regime; the Rules have also increasingly been seen as not addressing issues crucial for modern sea carriage. It has also been realized that the existing regime, whether based on the Hague, Hague-Visby, or Hamburg Rules, does not properly accommodate modern trade practices, such as those treating the carriage of goods by sea as part of wider door-to-door commercial transport operations and those relying on electronic commerce. Nevertheless, such criticism and considerations were for a long time unable to coalesce into a realistic plan for improving the situation.

This book examines third party protection in shipping. Today, shipping is not just a part of the supply chain; it is indistinguishable from it. Once at the periphery, third party protection is now a central element of carriage. This matter is addressed by means of analysis of the current legal framework in relation to third parties and an evaluation of how, within this framework, the law applicable to a third party may be uncovered. Third party protection is analysed under the following: the Hague/Hague-Visby Rules; the Hamburg Rules; the Rotterdam Rules; English law and United States law; and civil law. With its breadth of coverage and high-quality analysis, this book is vital reading for both professional and academic readers with an interest in shipping and international trade.