Shipping—Charterparty—Deck cargo

Queen’s Bench Division, Commercial Court, 23 April 2010 Hamblen J

Where a charterparty incorporates the Hague/Hague-Visby Rules and envisages that deck cargo might be carried but does not provide an on-deck statement, the rules apply to the carriage of deck cargo unless the bill(s) of lading issued for the cargo contain an on-deck statement as required.

Moreover, cl 13(b) of the NYPE 1993 Form provides owners with an indemnity in respect of loss caused by the carriage of deck cargo but not for loss caused by negligence and/or breach of the obligation of seaworthiness on the part of owners, their servants and agents.

Luke Parsons QC and Poonam Melwani (instructed by Reed Smith LLP) for the claimant. Chirag Karia (instructed by Bentleys Stokes and Lowless) for the defendant.

The parties entered into a charterparty on the NYPE 1993 form with amendments. The charter was for a one time trip from Finland/Sweden intention Loviisa and Kokkola