Rotterdam Rules liability warning to ports

The Convention on Contracts for the International Carriage of Goods Wholly or Partly by Sea was primarily designed to govern the liability of carriers providing "wet multimodal transportation".

But it also applies to cargo and delay claims brought by shipping lines against terminal operators acting as sub-contractors, Craig Neame and Ben Atkinson from the firm's London office said.

"The convention also introduces new terminology including 'maritime performing parties'," the lawyers said.

"Terminal operators will fall within this definition.

"The convention makes all maritime performing parties jointly and severally liable to cargo interests for cargo claims which means that cargo interests will, in due course, have several targets to pursue if cargo is damaged.

"The days of terminals relying on their own standard conditions  – further to the doctrine of 'bailment on terms' – or excluding liability altogether – further to the carrier's Himalaya Clause – are probably numbered."

Chris Collins of TT Club Australian agent Thomas Miller (Australasia) agreed that Rotterdam, which would come into force a year after 20 countries had ratified it, would supersede the traditional marine conventions – the Hague, Hague-Visby, Hamburg rules – though he highlighted the position of the International Convention Concerning the Carriage of Goods by Rail (CIM) and the Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR).

"It would be misleading to assume that it will be a super intermodal convention for at least two reasons," Mr Collins said.

"One:  Rotterdam will only apply if the intermodal carriage includes a sea leg.

"Two:  it will be subordinate to existing 'non-sea' conventions, such as CMR, CIM and the Warsaw/Montreal air conventions.