Rules governing carrier's obligations and liability- cargo ships employment

Rules governing carrier's obligations and liability- cargo ships employment

International conventions applicable to contracts of carriage

Three sets of rules are in use in the international transport industry which contain “minimum” terms and conditions and, where a bill of lading is issued, set out:

i) the carrier’s obligations;
ii) the carrier’s exceptions from liability;
iii) the extent of the carrier’s liability to the shipper;
iv) the shipper’s responsibilities; and
v) the amounts recoverable from the carrier in case of loss of or damage to the goods while in the carrier’s care.

These sets of rules are:

• the Hague Rules, which have been adopted by the majority of trading countries;

• the Hague-Visby Rules, adopted by the UK and nearly 30 other countries; and

• the Hamburg Rules, adopted by relatively few countries (and not favoured by shipowners since they are less to their advantage than the other rules).

In most cases, where a set of rules is adopted by a particular State, the rules are incorporated by law into the domestic legislation of the State.

Some States have not adopted any of the above rules into their national law but have made domestic legislation which adopts the principles of one or more sets of rules.

Some States have not, for one reason or another, adopted any of the sets of rules, leaving it open to the carrier, in the absence of any domestic legislation in the port State, to decide which set of rules, if any, will be incorporated into the contract of carriage. A shipmaster can determine which set of rules applies to the contract of carriage in this situation by inspecting the Clause Paramount in the charter party and/or bill of lading relating to the particular carriage or voyage.

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