Lloyd's Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly
THE DUTIES, OBLIGATIONS AND LIABILITIES OF THE SHIP’S AGENT TO HIS PRINCIPAL
Dr Johannes Trappe
Hamburg
I. The Ship’s Agent
1. Who is a ship’s agent? Is this the person who in daily shipping life is usually called “Shipbroker”? Is this the man who, on the French shipping scene, is called “consignataire du navire”? There is much confusion in terminology. There appears to be a lack of accuracy in denominating the person we have to deal with.1 Confusion is often caused by the fact that commercial people are giving to this person a name which, in certain countries, does not appear to be identical with the legal term given to him. This phenomenon is often met with.2
An attempt will be made to define the ship’s agent’s duties, obligations and liabilities to his principal. To do this we should try to define what a ship’s agent is in the legal sense. As this is a legal exercise, we have to look into the statutes or, when the law is not codified, into the judgments.
The Polish Maritime Code, 1961, as far as port services are concerned, contains provisions governing the position of the ship’s agent, of the shipbroker, of the shipowner and of the pilot. Regarding the ship’s agent, the following is stated:
Article 191: “By a contract of Agency, the Ship’s Agent undertakes for remuneration to act as a permanent representative of a Ship’s Operator at a determined port or in a determined area”.
Article 192: “The Ship’s Agent is authorized to undertake, in the name of the Ship’s Operator, usual operations incident to the carrying out of shipping trade.
“In particular, the Ship’s Agent is authorized to act, in the name of the Ship’s Operator, before public offices and the port authority, to make all arrangements for the vessel and to accept statements incident to the arrival, stay and departure of the vessel, to conclude in the name of the Ship’s Operator contracts of carriage, contracts of marine insurance and contracts of cargo handling, to issue bills of lading, to receive and to pay all amounts incident to the call of the vessel at the port and to the carriage of cargo or of passengers, and to pursue, in the name of the Ship’s Operator, claims arising from contracts of carriage and marine accidents.
“When concluding a contract in the name of the Ship’s Operator, the Agent may act also on behalf of the other contracting party, provided that the Ship’s Operator has given his consent thereto”.3
An English Judge once explained:
“The Ship’s Agent is, in the normal case, the Agent of the Shipowner at the particular port, and the Ship’s Agent, therefore, at that port stands in the shoes of the Shipowner, and it is reasonable to suppose that he has the authority to do whatever the Shipowner has to do at that port”.4
2. Starting from these definitions, it is evident that a ship’s agent is not the same legal personality as a shipbroker, more specifically a chartering broker or a loading
1 Cf., R. Rodière, Traité Général de Droit Maritime, Introduction, l’Armement; Paris, 1976, No. 402. N. Singh and R. P. Colinvaux, Shipowners (British Shipping Laws, Vol. 13); London, 1967, No. 664.
2 E.g., not every German “Spediteur” is a “Spediteur” in the strict legal sense. The hire paid for a time-chartered vessel, it is suggested, is no “hire” in the strict legal sense.
3 Arts. 191 and 192. Cf., J. Lopuski and R. Adamski, The Polish Maritime Code, Polish original with translation into English and explanatory notes; Gdynia, 1964.
4 Pearson, L. J., in Blandy Bros. & Co. v. Nello Simoni
[1963] 2 Lloyd’s Rep. 393, 404.
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