Carriage of Goods by Sea Summative Assessment

3155 Words7 Pages

Carriage of goods by sea summative assessment

1. The introduction of incorporation clause
The bill of lading under a charterparty is just a certificate of receipt for the charterer, the bill of lading is not to be seen as a contract of carriage of goods by sea due to the relationship between the shipowner and charterer under a charterparty. When the bill of lading issued by the shipowner is transferred to a third party by the charterer, the right-obligation relationship between the shipowner and the bill of lading indorsee will be effected by the international conventions that related to the bill of lading. And that means the terms governing the relationship between the shipowner and a bill of lading indorsee will be different from the terms originally agreed with the charterer, the shipowner will exposed to greater liability than he initially anticipated. Obviously, the shipowner does not want to see that happen. Under this circumstance, the shipowner always wonder that the terms of the charterparty can be carried through into the terms of bill of lading contracts. So whether it is a charterparty or a bill of lading, the liability of the shipowner would always be the same, and that led to the development of incorporation clause.
A common form of incorporation clause is:“all the terms, conditions, clause and exceptions as per charterparty.” or “all the terms, conditions, liberties and exceptions of the charterparty are herein incorporated.” or “All the terms whatsoever of the said contract/charter expect the rate and payment of freight specified therein apply to and govern the rights of the parties concerned in this shipment.”
Under the NYPE46 and NYPE93, the charterer, not the shipowner, has the right to choose the type o...

... middle of paper ...

...ed in the terms of the charterparty. This is particularly true in cases where the provisions of the Hague/Visby Rules become applicable after the bill has been indorsed to a third party.
Shipowners who wish to control over such extension of their liability may require any bill to be issued in the standard form designed for use with a particular charterparty. Or they may require the bill to include a clause specifically incorporating the terms of the charterparty.[ See supra pp 247 ff.] Such devices afford only limited protection for the shipowner and are more frequently replaced by clauses requiring the master to sign bills ‘as presented . . . without prejudice to this charter’.[ NYPE 1993 clause 30.]

Bibliography

J.F. Wilson, ‘Carriage of Goods by Sea’ (7th edn, Pearson Education Limited, 2010)
S. Baughen, ‘Shipping Law’ (4th edn, Routledge-Cavendish, 2009)

Open Document