Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1971 (COGSA 71)

Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1971 (COGSA 71)

Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1971 (COGSA 71) is a UK act to make the Hague-Visby Rules apply to the carriage of goods in certain circumstances.
It contains sections as follows:

1. Application of Hague Rules as amended;
2. Contracting States, etc.;
3. Absolute warranty of seaworthiness not to be implied in contracts to which Rules apply;
4. Application of Act to British possessions, etc.;
5. Extension of application of Rules to carriage from ports in British possessions, etc.;
6. Supplemental.

COGSA 71 contains one Schedule:COGSA 71 The Hague Rules as amended by the Brussels Protocol 1968 (i.e. the Hague-Visby Rules).

It provides, in section 1(2), that the Hague-Visby Rules will have the force of law in the UK. and in section 1(3), that the Hague-Visby Rules will apply to the carriage of goods by sea where the port of shipment is a port in the UK, whether or not the carriage is between ports in two different States.

This means that UK coastal cargo shipped under bill of lading terms is covered by the Hague-Visby Rules, whereas Article X of the Hague-Visby Rules (where they apply by agreement alone) states that the Hague-Visby Rules apply only to a bill of lading covering carriage between ports in two different countries.

Many other maritime States have enacted a Carriage of Goods by Sea Act or other legislation similar in purpose to COGSA 71, which will apply in certain situations (usually where goods are loaded in ports of the State), but the provisions of each statute may differ. The US COGSA, for example, applies to inward as well as outward cargoes at US ports.

COGSA 71 makes the Hague-Visby Rules apply to the following documents:

• any bill of lading if the contract contained in or evidenced by it expressly provides (e.g. in a Clause Paramount) that the Hague-Visby Rules will govern the contract;

• any receipt which is a non-negotiable document, marked as such (e.g. a sea waybill), if the contract contained in or evidenced by it is a contract for the carriage of goods by sea expressly providing that the Hague- Visby Rules are to govern the contract as if the receipt were a bill of lading. (Most sea waybills do this.)

Although COGSA 71 applies to all shipments from UK ports (coastwise or overseas), it does not cover shipments into UK ports (unlike the US COGSA).

COGSA 71 applies only to the seaborne part of the carriage (although the bill of lading may have been issued to cover a multi-modal operation, e.g. a Combined Transport Operation; in that case, “warehouse-to-warehouse” insurance would be arranged to cover the other modes of transport).

Carrier’s obligation of seaworthiness under COGSA 71

COGSA 71 states, in section 3, that where the Act applies, there may not be implied in any contract of carriage of goods by sea to which the Hague-Visby Rules apply under the Act any absolute undertaking (i.e. a guarantee) by the carrier to provide a seaworthy ship. However, the carrier still has the clear obligation to exercise, before and at the beginning of the voyage, due diligence to make the ship seaworthy, properly man, equip and supply her, and make her holds, refrigerating and cool chambers, and all other parts of the ship in which goods are carried, fit and safe for their reception, carriage and preservation.

COGSA 71 provisions relating to live animals and deck cargo

Although the Hague-Visby Rules, as they stand alone, do not apply to live animals or to deck cargo which is stated on the bill of lading as being carried on deck and is so carried, COGSA 71 reverses this in section 1(7) by stating that the Rules will apply as if they did not exclude deck cargo and live animals.

Read more on :Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1991 (COGSA 91)

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Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1971 (COGSA 71)

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