Owner and carrier liability increasing

The Convention legislates both for the international maritime carriage of goods and for the international multimodal carriage of goods where there is a maritime leg covered in the contract.

The Rules relating to receipt and delivery, loading and discharge have been extended beyond sea carriage. Unless a competing convention applies, they would cover services relating to road, rail and inland water carriage. The new convention may, therefore, be described as a ‘maritime plus’ instrument, as exemplified by references to ‘transport document’ rather than bills of lading and sea waybills.