The most common incidents in maritime transport under English law

What the course covers

The course works through the incidents behind most claims and places each one in the regime that governs it. On the cargo side: wetting, condensation, contamination, shortage and weight differences, bad stowage, and delivery without presentation of the bill of lading. On the ship side: grounding, collision, fire, machinery breakdown, unsafe port and detention after inspection.

The governing framework is the Hague-Visby Rules, given effect in the United Kingdom by the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1971, whose Schedule sets them out. Three elements get detailed treatment. The first is the list of excepted perils in Article IV rule 2, paragraphs (a) to (q): nautical fault in the navigation or management of the ship, fire without the fault of the carrier, perils of the sea, act of God, strikes and stoppages, inherent vice of the goods, insufficiency of packing and of marks, latent defects, and the closing paragraph (q) for any other cause arising without the fault of the carrier.

The second is the limitation of liability in Article IV rule 5(a): absent a declared value, the limit is 666.67 units of account per package or unit, or 2 units of account per kilogramme of gross weight, whichever is the higher.

The third is the time bar. Article III rule 6 discharges the carrier and the ship from liability unless suit is brought within one year of delivery of the goods or of the date when they should have been delivered.

On that base the course covers incident handling: notice of claim, appointment of surveyors, preservation of evidence, the letter of indemnity, P&I Club security, time extension agreements and the interface with general average.

Who it is for

Owners, charterers, freight forwarders with international traffic, in-house legal teams and claims and insurance managers who handle recoveries on English-language documents.

Why it matters

A year goes quickly. Between the casualty investigation, the survey and the exchange with the P&I Club, a claim can reach the bar without the correct defendant having been identified and without a written extension in place.

Package limitation changes the figure at stake according to how the cargo is described in the bill of lading. Containers, pallets and loose packages produce different outcomes on the same shipment and the same damage.

Programme

• Cargo and ship incident types and the first evidence to secure
• Article IV rule 2 exceptions: nautical fault, fire and perils of the sea
• Article IV rule 5(a) limitation: 666.67 per package, 2 per kilogramme
• The Article III rule 6 one-year bar and extension agreements
• Letters of indemnity, P&I Club security and evidence preservation
• General average and coordination with cargo and hull insurance