Happy Halloween, dia de los muertos, and similar holidays to all our readers. Following a very successful FIATA world Congress in Bangkok your General Editor took some holidays, but fortunately other contributors have been active in the meantime: the following are articles of interest posted to the site in the last month.

When the Shipping Line Lets you Down

Contrary to representations, the cargo did not sail on the scheduled vessel. The shipping line (correctly) states that it cannot mark the on board date until the sailing of the next vessel, which will be past the required date for the Letter of Credit and may frustrate the sale of the goods. What is a shipper to do? The law requires that damaged parties take reasonable steps to mitigate their damages. Editor Emeritus Peter Jones reviews a recent decision of the Singapore Court of Appeal which discussed five principles of mitigation:
http://www.forwarderlaw.com/library/view.php?article_id=727

Forwarder Held Liable for Cargo Loss

In a recent decision of the Magistrates Court at Tel Aviv, a forwarder was held liable for the loss and shortage of two portions of a consignment from England to Israel. Although the Courts granted only a fraction of the damages sought (the value of the actual goods lost), Israeli contributor Roy Gilad criticizes the evidentiary and legal basis of the ruling. Click here for more:
http://www.forwarderlaw.com/library/view.php?article_id=726

Identifying the Responsible Contractor in Multimodal Shipments

Virtually all movements include at least a token land movement, and most containerized shipments involve a substantial multimodal element. It is therefore crucial to be able to identify the party responsible for each element of the overall movement, both for fixing liability and determining terms. UK Editor Paul Bugden reviews some of the problems and pitfalls in this useful article:
http://www.forwarderlaw.com/library/view.php?article_id=724

The Perils of Service Agreements!

Many shippers and forwarders assume that a service agreement between them will prevail over standard bill of lading or convention terms. Yet, both sets of terms apply as a matter of contract and the parties may be surprised when the Courts prefer one over the other. Editor Emeritus Peter Jones reviews just such a case here and one with a surprising outcome:
http://www.forwarderlaw.com/library/view.php?article_id=723

Agents Liable for Release without OBL

In May 2010 the District Court of Tel Aviv awarded more than NIS 5 million in damages to be paid by ships agents and customs agents to banks suffering a loss following release of goods other than on presentation of original bills of lading. The decision, which considered tortious and contractual duties of the agents as well as the contributing negligence of the banks, is reviewed here by Israeli contributor Roy Gilad:
http://www.forwarderlaw.com/library/view.php?article_id=725

General

Previous e-news summaries and all past articles are available and searchable on-line at www.forwarderlaw.com

Please send this edition of Forwarderlaw E-news to a friend who would benefit from an introduction to this resource.

If you would like to be removed from the mailing list hit your reply button and type in "unsubscribe" in the subject line.

If you wish to send the General Editor an article, please "telegraph" your intentions by a previous email, so that your article does not get deleted like the numerous virus-carrying emails.

Thank-you for reading!