Lloyd's Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly
MODERN LINER CONTRACTS
MODERN LINER CONTRACTS. Lloyd’s of London Press Ltd., London (1984, iv and 86 pp.). Paperback £40. THE ASBATANKVOY CHARTER by D. Thomas McCune. Lloyd’s of London Press Ltd., London (1984, iv and 83 pp., plus 12 pp. indices). Paperback £40. A GUIDE TO THE HAGUE-VISBY RULES. Lloyd’s of London Press Ltd., London (1985, iii and 46 pp., plus 6 pp. Appendices and 2 pp. Index). Paperback £35. These three booklets are Special Reports recently published by Lloyd’s of London Press Ltd., the first two produced in double-spaced typescript in similar size and binding to issues of this Quarterly, the third printed in an A4 ring folder. The last is a disappointing pamphlet, containing simply the text of the Carriage of Goods by Sea Acts 1924 and 1971 plus accompanying explanation, though with minimal case citation. Some supplementary details are supplied, such as of the SDR Protocol and a list of countries which have adopted the Hague Rules but the “Report” seems designed to serve as a simple introduction for the layman rather than for general, albeit limited, reference. It is, like the Report on modern liner contracts, anonymous, though the latter is a more useful document, containing for the most part the annotated text of the COBRA (Continent Britain Asia) Consortium’s draft of a bill of lading for combined transport or port-to-port shipment on its Europe/India trade. Even more useful is D. Thomas McCune’s Report, which contains a detailed analysis of selected clauses of the Asbatankvoy charter, a copy of which is inserted in the Report, together with annotations of arbitration awards and judicial decisions, which are comprehensively cited. In view of the different practices in London and New York, the majority of cases referred to are awards published by the Society of Maritime Arbitrators.