‘There are two issues in this Part 8 claim, namely whether the package limitation provisions in Article IV r.5 of the Hague Rules (‘Article IV r.5’) apply to bulk cargoes and, if they do, how they apply to the damaged cargo of fishoil with which this action is concerned. Article IV r.5 provides that the carrier’s liability for loss or damage to or in connection with goods shall not exceed andpound;100 ‘per package or unit’. The Defendant’s case is that Article IV r.5 can be applied to bulk or liquid cargo by reading the word ‘unit’ as a reference to the unit used by the parties to denominate or quantify the cargo in the contract of carriage. The Defendant relies on the description of the cargo in the charterparty as ‘2,000 tons cargo of fishoil in bulk’. The Claimants’ case is that the word ‘unit’ can only refer to a physical item of cargo, or to a combination of physical items bundled together for shipment. Article IV r.5 does not apply to a liquid or other bulk cargo: when cargo is shipped in bulk, there are no relevant ‘packages’ or ‘units’.’
Sir Jeremy Cooke
[2016] EWHC 2514 (Comm)
Bailii
England and Wales
Transport
Updated: 24 January 2022; Ref: scu.570437