Jurisprudence on interepretation of the Hague-Visby Rules: Negligent Stowage

United States

American Home Assurance Co. v. M/v Tabuk et Al., United States District Court, Southern District of New York, November 5, 2001 (2002 AMC 184)One container in which one hundred missiles, placed on pallets had been stowed, was loaded on the deck of the m/v Tabuk for carriage from Wilmington to Kuwait. In the course of the voyage the container was lost overboard during a storm. American Home Assurance Co. indemnified the shipper, Raytheon System Company and brought an action against the m/v Tabuk and the carrier, United Arab Shipping Company, claiming US$ 2,560,250.00 in damages, stating that the package limitation was not applicable because the stowage of the container on deck was an unreasonable deviation and in any event the deviation was per se unreasonable, the total number of containers on deck exceeded that contemplated in the stowage manual of the ship and the container was improperly secured.Held, by the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, that:

<dl><dd>(1) Negligence of the carrier in properly loading and securing containers on deck is not an unreasonable deviation. </dd></dl>

Staff Author

UK P&I

Date01/10/2010

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Briefings

The UK Club routinely advises Members on the implications of proposed carriage of cargo on deck. The Club usually advises on both the contractual aspects, i.e. risk allocation under the Bills of Lading and Charterparties, as well as from a loss prevention/ or practical perspective. Carriage of cargo on deck exposes the cargo to a variety of extra risks from the elements, such as sea-spray and wind, as well as the potential risk of being washed off or falling overboard due to bad weather conditions or inadequate lashing/stabilising. Depending on the cargo, there may also be issues with the stability of the vessel itself, for example, the carriage of wing blades on top of hatch covers. 

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The multimodal transportation of goods is inherently complex.  This complexity is further complicated by the absence of internationally accepted rules governing the multimodal trade. While the shipowner is often the carrier or multimodal transport operator(MTO) under the multimodal transport contract, the rules applicable to the liability of the shipowner are embodied in a mosaic of International Conventions relating to the carriage of goods by sea, by air and by road.