12.1 Introduction

Issues surrounding which party to a contract of carriage should bear responsibility for cargo damage related to loading, stowage and discharge have provided a consistent source of work for Admiralty and Commercial Court judges in years past and continue to do so. The factual issues are often complex enough but, as we shall see, there remains considerable scope for argument in relation to the applicable legal principles, especially where parties have sought to transfer the standard common law/Hague /Hague-Visby allocation of responsibility for one or all of loading, stowage and discharge by means of provisions in the contract of carriage.