FEYHA MARITIME LTD V MILOUBAR CENTRAL FEEDMILL LTD AND ANOTHER

Civil Leave to Appeal 7195/18, Supreme Court Israel, Hon Justice N Hendel, 12 May 2019

Claims – Time bar – Substantive limitation – Whether claim submitted in time by party without cause of action stopped time running – Hague-Visby Rules, article III rule 6

The applicant was the owner of the ship Feyha on which the first respondent’s cargo of corn was being shipped from Ukraine to Israel, when it was lost to a fire on board. The second respondent, Phoenix, was the insurer of the cargo. The first respondent had submitted a claim against the insurer before the court in Haifa. The insurer issued a third party notice against the shipowner to join it to proceedings, but went on to settle its claim against the shipowner. The first respondent pursued the claim against the carrier, in the event it would not recover in full from the insurer. This was the carrier’s application for leave to appeal the decision to join it to the proceedings on the basis: (i) that the cargo claimant was not the consignee under the bill of lading and therefore had no cause of action; and (ii) of the Hague-Visby Rules one-year time bar. The first respondent sought to amend the claim to reflect that the consignee (a related company) was the claimant. This depended on whether one of the two in-time claims, namely the first respondent’s claim against the insurer or the insurer’s against the carrier had been effective to stop time running.