CARRIAGE OF GOODS BY SEA

UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE CARRIAGE OF GOODS BY SEA,1978

(HAMBURG RULES)
Carrier means any person by whom or in whose name a contract of carriage of goods by sea has
been concluded with a shipper.
Shipper means any person by whom or in whose name a contract of carriage of goods by sea has
been concluded with a carrier.
Consignee means the person entitled to take delivery of the goods.
Contract of carriage by sea means any contract whereby the carrier undertakes against payment of
freight to carry goods by sea from one port to another; however, a contract which involves carriage
by sea and also carriage by some other means is deemed to be a contract of carriage by sea for the
purposes of this Convention only in so far as it relates to the carriage by sea.
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Carrier includes any individual, firm or company who or which

transports goods as a business for money from place to place over land
or through other modes provided:
1. The freight chargeable by him is paid
2. There is accommodation on his conveyance and
3. There is nothing objectionable or illegal about carrying the goods of
the consignor.
-----Peter Giles, International Trade and Business
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Parties Involved
Shipper/Consignor/Vendor: The shipper/consignor is usually the party
that contracts with the carrier for the carriage of the goods.
Receiver/Consignee/Buyer: The consignee is the party to whom the
goods are to be delivered at the port of destination, usually the buyer.
Ship Owner: The shipowner is simply the owner of the ship that carried
the cargo. The shipowner will often be the “carrier” of the cargo.
Charterer: Ships are frequently leased or chartered to other entities.
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CHARTER PARTY
A Charter Party or Charter is defined as a contract by which the owner
of a ship lets the whole or principal part to another person for the
conveyance of goods on a particular voyage to one or more places or
until the expiration of a specified time.
• Time Charter
• Voyage Charter
• Demise Charter
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A bill of lading is a document issued by the carrier acknowledging that

certain goods have been received on board the vessel for conveyance
to a named place for delivery to a consignee who may be identified.

------Ralph Folsom, International Business Transactions

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Functions of a Bill of Lading

1. Receipt for the goods handed over to the carrier.

2. Document of title
3. Contract of carriage
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Bill of Lading as a Receipt
Carrier’s Liability
New Chinese Co. v. Ocean Steamship Co. (1917) 2 KB 664
Common law rule, absolved the carrier of liability due to inclusion of
disclaimer clause
Compania Naviera Vascongada v. Churchill (1926) 1 KB 237
Estoppel rule, holds carrier liable, when the defect in goods is apparent
on reasonable inspection of the goods
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Bill of Lading as a Document of Title

A document that confers or proves ownership is a document of title. A
document of title evidences that the person in possession of the
document is entitled to receive, hold, and dispose off the goods
covered by the document.
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Bill of Lading as a Document of Title
Sanders v. Maclean
(1883) 11 QBD 327
A cargo at sea, while in the hands of a carrier is necessarily incapable of
physical delivery. During this period of voyage, the bill of lading is
universally recognised as its symbol and endorsement and delivery of
the bill of lading operates as a symbolic delivery of the cargo.
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Bill of Lading as a Document of Title

Advantages
• Delivery of goods
• Transfer ownership of the goods
• Security for a debt
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Bill of Lading as a Contract of Carriage or Evidence of Contract of Carriage

Crooks v. Allan
(1879) 5 QBD 38
A bill of lading is not a contract of carriage but only an evidence of the
contract. It does not, therefore follow that, the person who accepts the
bill of lading which the shipowner hands him, necessarily binds himself
to abide by all its stipulations.
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Bill of Lading Evidence of Contract of Carriage
The Ardennes
(1951) 1 KB 55
The bill of lading is not in itself the contract of carriage, though an
excellent evidence of its terms. Once a binding contract had been
concluded which would not allow deviation, nothing printed on a bill of
lading subsequently issued could alter the terms of that pre-existing
contract.
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Bill of Lading as Evidence of Contract of Carriage

Pyrene Co. Ltd. v. Scindia Navigation Co. Ltd.

(1954) 2 QB 402
When parties enter into a contract of carriage with the expectation that
a bill of lading will be issued to cover it, they enter into it upon those
terms which they know or expect the bill of lading to contain. It would
be absurd to suppose that the parties intend the terms of the contract
to be changed when the bill of lading is issued.
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Bill of Lading as a Contract of Carriage

Leduc v. Ward
(1888) 2 QBD 475
Anything that took place between shipper and carrier and not
embodied in the bill of lading could not affect the endorsee.
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Delivery on Presentation of Bill of Lading

Sze Hai Tong Bank Ltd. v. Rambler Cycle Co. Ltd.
(1959) 2 Lloyds Rep. 114
A shipowner who delivers goods without production of the bill of lading
does do at his own peril.
---Lord Denning
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Types of Bills of Lading
1. Received v. Shipped B/L
2. Negotiable (order) v. Non – Negotiable B/L
3. Clean v. Dirty B/L
4. Stale B/L
5. Multimodal Transport Document (MMTD)
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The Multimodal Transportation of Goods Act, 1993
Section 2(k) ‘multimodal transportation’ means carriage of goods, by at least two
different modes of transport under a multimodal transport contract, from the
place of acceptance of the goods in India to a place of delivery of the goods
outside India.

Section 2(la) ‘multimodal transport document’ means a negotiable or non-

negotiable document evidencing a multimodal transport contract and which can
be replaced by electronic data interchange messages permitted by applicable law