SIDERIDRAULIC SYSTEMS SPA V BBC CHARTERING & LOGISTIC GMBH & CO KG (THE "BBC GREENLAND")

[2011] EWHC 3106 (Comm), Queen's Bench Division, Commercial Court, Mr Justice Andrew Smith, 30 November 2011

Bills of lading - Whether carriage subject to the Hague-Visby Rules - Deck carriage - Whether cargo stated to in fact be carried on deck - Whether UK Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1971 section 1(6) and (7) made Hague-Visby Rules applicable to deck cargo - Whether US law applied - US Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1936

The claimants had obtained permission to serve the defendants in Alabama. This was the defendants' application to set aside that permission. The claimant cargo interests' sand filter tanks were lost while being carried on the deck of the defendant shipowner's and charterer's vessel. The defendants argued that the tanks had been deck cargo and therefore not covered by the Hague-Visby Rules but instead were covered by COGSA 1936. The bill of lading notably contained a master's remark that "all cargo carried on deck at shipper's/charterer's/receiver's risk as to perils inherent in such carriage".