Limits of liability of the sea carriers in the processo of transshipment based on the Hague and Hamburg Conventions

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Professor, department of public law, Faculty of Law and Political Science, University of Tehran (Farabi), Qom, Iran.

2 Ph.D. in oil and gas law, Faculty of Law and Political Science, University of Tehran (Farabi), Qom, Iran.

10.48300/jlr.2024.424103.2489

Abstract

Transshipment is a process in which cargo is transferred from one vessel to another in such a way that the process is divided into one or more separate voyages before and after transshipment which can be the origin of different responsibilities of carriers.
The Carriers responsibility in the bill of ladings involving transshipment is very important because the responsibility of the carrier who issues the bill of lading may be different in case of damage in any stages of the voyages.
In this article, we attempted to explain the limits of responsibility of carriers in bill of ladings involving transshipment relying on the Hague and Hamburg conventions as well as the judicial precedent.
Unfortunately, despite the importance of this issue and the expansion of this operation in maritime transportation, the articles and books published in this field mostly focus on technical and engineering aspects of transshipment.
Unfortunately, despite the importance of this issue and the expansion of this process in shipping, the articles and books published about transshipment mostly focus on technical and engineering aspects furthermore these conventions carring different approaches in this regard, so it is necessary to examine the issue in a more transparent manner.
It seems that the responsibility of the carriers in the transshipment process will be different based on the type of bill of lading or governing law of it in such a way that by changing the provisions of the bill of lading, the responsibility of the carriers can also change.

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