The law imposes on shipowners, in a question with those to whom they charter their vessels, a general duty of providing a seaworthy ship, and of using reasonable care in everything which pertains to her. They may, it is true, contract themselves out of those duties, but the contract must be a clear one-‘an ambiguous document is no protection.’ Terms of a document which were held too ambiguous to relieve shipowners of their duty to provide a ship fit to carry her cargo.
Judges:
Lord Chancellor (Loreburn), the Earl of Halsbury, Lords Macnaghten and Atkinson
Citations:
[1907] UKHL 967, 45 SLR 967
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Transport
Updated: 27 April 2022; Ref: scu.622316
