ABSTRACT
Transportation is an integral factor in
international trade and the contract of carriage of goods by sea, forms part of
the complex web of transactions witnessed at international trade. The purpose of this project is to illuminate
the nature and the inherent features present in the contract of Carriage of
Goods by Sea and to also highlight the rights as well as the duties owed by the
parties. It also seeks to point the
obligations the law imposes on the parties as well as the liabilities they
would incur on the event of breach in this form of contract.
CHAPTER ONE
THE NATURE
OF THE CONTRACT OF CARRIAGE OF GOODS BY SEA
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Man
has always been by his nature an interactive and interdependent being, and
trade has been one of those means by which he interacts and shows his
interdependency. He engages in the
exchange of goods and services for a valuable consideration.
The
concept of international trade
is not new to man, only that here, this form of exchange seems to resonate on a
much broader platform involving a complex web of structures and processes which
makes this sort of transaction possible and one of this structure is the
carriage of goods by sea, thus it is important to point out that, this form of
transportation of goods is not only vital to international trade, but it also
forms an integral part of it, that the absence it would make international
trade very difficult to undertake.
Though
our focus is the rights and obligations of parties under the carriage of goods
by sea, full appreciation of this rights and duties will not be attained, if
some attention is not given to highlight the nature of this form of
transaction.
1.2 DEFINITION
The
contract of carriage of goods by sea can easily be seen as a contract involving
two parties who for an agreed sum agree to be bound by the terms reached by
them. But this definition may be very misleading, for though the contract of
carriage involve this important element it is not the same as the usual
contracts reached and agreed by parties.
Perhaps
looking at some definitions posed by some authorities, more light would be shed
on the nature of this kind of contract. Clive
M. Schmitthoff
tried to give a vivid description as to the nature of this contract, here
he said that a contract of carriage entails a situation where an exporter
concludes with a ship owner to carry goods in his ship from one port to
another, usually overseas, such contract is known as the contract of carriage
by sea. R.M. Goode
on the other hand sees a contract of carriage involving two parties the shipper
and the carrier. The shipper is the person to whom the carrier
undertakes the duty of transporting the goods.
Black’s Law Dictionary defines it as an
agreement for carriage of goods by water, which may employ a bill of lading, a
charter party or both to ship goods.
Finally,
Article 1 Carriage of Goods By Sea Act
defines contract of carriage as those that:
“Apply only to contracts covered by a bill of lading
or any similar document of title, in so far as such document relates to the
carriage of goods by sea, including any bill of lading or any similar document
as aforesaid issued under a pursuant to a charter party from the moment at
which such bill of lading or similar document of title regulates the relations
between a carrier and a holder of the same”.
1.3
THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN CONTRACT OF CARRIAGE OF GOODS BY SEA FROM OTHER
CONTRACTS
Usually,
under all common law jurisdictions, parties to a contract are primarily the
buyer and the seller, who for a consideration would accept to be bound by the
agreement reached between both parties, of which liability would accrue from
the breach of the said agreement, C.M.
Schmitthoff
drew our attention to the fact that:
“…A contract is an agreement which will be enforced
by the law… there must be at least two parties to an agreement. One of them will make an offer and the other
will indicate its acceptance. When offer
and acceptance correspond in every respect there is an agreement between the
parties”.
Comparing
this definition with the contract of carriage of goods by sea, we see a marked
difference. Here, unlike in former, the
contract is not a contract between the buyer and seller, rather it is between
the shipper and the carrier, who conveys the goods to the said destination. In carriage of goods by sea the shipper could
either be the buyer or seller in a usual contract, who depending on the
agreement reached may be saddled with the responsibility of entering into a
contract with the carrier to convey the goods to a said destination agreed upon
by both parties.
Still
looking at the distinction, we see further that unlike in a contract where the
parties involved are usually two in number, in a contract of carriage of goods
by sea the reverse is the case. This
involves several parties whose role (directly or indirectly) can not be
undermined. For example, we have the
shipper and the carrier who are primary parties to the transaction, also we
have the agents of both parties who can act in position of the principal. We also have financial institutions,
such as the banks who are most often times directly involved in his form of
contract and also the insurance companies whose role cannot be ignored,
especially when taking into cognizance the level of risk involved in this form
of transaction.
1.4 TYPES
OF CONTRACT OF CARRIAGE
There
are two types of contract of carriage:
i. Charter party
ii. Bill of Lading
Charter Party
According
to Chuah where the
shipper intending to ship goods, wants the use of an entire vessel for that
purpose, he might wish to enter into a direct contract of carriage with the
ship owner, for the charter of the latter’s ship. This transaction is known as a charter party. Here the charterer pays freight in exchange
for use of the ship. Another authority
sees a charter party
as a contract for the
hire of an entire ship for a specified voyage or period of time. It is important to point out that a charter
party is not subject to the Carriage of Goods Act or any other statute. It is principally governed by the rule of
common law and thus the parties are free to make any term as they wish.
Bill of Lading
In
circumstances where bills of lading
are used, usually what we see in this case is the shipper of goods not wishing
to contract for the entire ship, but rather some cargo space on board. Here he contracts with either the ship owners
or the charterer, depending on the arrangement.
In cases were the latter’s applicable, the parties are not bound by the
Carriage of Goods by sea Act, as already enunciated above. But where parties to the contract reach an
agreement, the trade usage in such instances is that the shipper receives a bill
of lading from the carrier as evidence of the shipment contract.
A
bill of lading, is a document which states that certain specified goods have
been shipped in a particular ship and which purports to set out the terms on
which the goods have been delivered to and received by the ship.
It
is common practice for carriers to convey various cargoes for different
shippers, in the sense the ship is said to be employed as a general ship under
different bills of lading, this is in sharp contrast with the charter party
where to whole ship is more often than not in the control of the charterer, who
may decide whether or not to adopt the use of the bill of lading in their
transactions.
It
is impertinent to point out however, that this document is very important and
in the eyes of the law it
is
seen as such, been that in everyday international sale transactions, it
possesses various functions which include:
(a) Receipt
A bill of lading is a receipt issued by or on behalf of the carrier,
whereby he acknowledges that he has shipped the goods or received them for
shipment.
(b) Evidence
of Contract
A bill of lading is also an evidence of a contract of carriage. Here it suffices to say that the bill of
lading is an evidence and not the contract itself, because under normal
circumstance, the contract would have been concluded before the carrier issues
a bill of lading. Though in some
circumstances the terms of the contract are usually incorporated into the
contract, what usually is the case, at least as between the carrier and the
shipper comments only to evidence of contract of carriage.
(c) Document
of Title
From the back drop of mercantile practice, the bill of lading is seen as
symbol by the law of the merchant and universally accepted as such, that the
endorsement and delivery of bill of lading operates as a symbolical delivery of
the cargo. Some view this as perhaps the most important
function of the bill of lading in that for many purposes possession of a bill
is equivalent in law to possession of the goods. Therefore, merely presenting an original bill
of lading the carrier must deliver the goods to the holder at the port of
destination. According to Ivamy,
the ability to transfer property rights in goods by the mere transfer of a
document is the keystone of international trade practice and the bill of lading
was long recognized by the courts, following mercantile usage as having this
quality.
The rationale of this statement was aptly pointed by Egbuna J. (as he then was) in Okoronkwo v. Standard Bank of Nigeria
Ltd.
Where he states that:
“… A cargo at sea while in the hands of the carrier
is necessarily incapable of physical delivery.
During this period of transit and voyage, the bill of lading by the law
of merchant, is universally recognized as its symbol and the endorsement and
delivery of the bill of lading operates as a symbolical delivery of the
cargo… It is
a key which in the hands of his rightful owner is intruded to unlock the door
of the warehouse, floating or fixed in which the goods may chance to be”.
Thus
a holder of a bill of lading can for example during transit sell and deliver
the goods by merely transferring the bill of lading. This is usually done by endorsing the bill of
lading to the third party. Thought this
does not necessarily mean that delivery or endorsement of the bill of lading
will inevitably pass title to the endorsee, such would depend on the intention
of the parties.
Lastly,
a bill of lading is not a negotiable instrument in the strict legal sense of
the term, though it resembles a negotiable instrument in that it can be
transferred freely by endorsement and delivery.
It
suffices to state that, parties who enter into contract of carriage of goods
where a bill of lading is used as a basis of that transactions are in fact
bound by the terms relating to the bill and the statute, in this case the Carriage of Goods By Sea Act
which regulates the obligations and liability that arises from the contract.
1.5 THE
SCOPE OF THE ACT
The
Carriage of Goods Act was first mentioned in September 1921 where a meeting was
held at the Hague with the object of securing adoption by the countries
represented of a set of rules relating to bills of lading, so that the rights
and liabilities of both cargo owners as well as carriers may be subject to
common rules of application. The rules
that were agreed upon became known as to Hague Rules. This was subsequently revised and an
international treaty was signed in Brussels in August 1924 adopting them.
Statutory
force was given to the rules by the Carriage
of Goods Act 1926. By the provisions
of this Act, the responsibilities, liabilities, rights and immunities attached
to carriers and shippers under the bill of lading are governed by the Hague
Rules which are set out in the schedule of the Act.