Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance plc v Service Transfer Inc – US District Court (SDNY) (Denise Cote DJ) – 4 December 2012

Carriage of goods – Intermodal carriage of goods from Kentucky to Vienna by road and sea – Carrier sub-contracting domestic leg to US road carrier – Goods destroyed during domestic carriage – Shipper’s subrogee bringing action against road carrier – Whether COGSA or Carmack Amendment applied – Whether road carrier acted as “receiving carrier” under Carmack Amendment

Baxter Healthcare Corporation (Baxter) wanted to ship a consignment of frozen human plasma from a warehouse in Erlanger, Kentucky, to Vienna, Austria. A sea waybill between Baxter and ocean carrier American President Lines Ltd (APL) provided for the through intermodal transport of the goods from Erlanger to Vienna.