Other implications of the Hague-Visby Rules and the Hamburg Rules

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The Hague-Visby Rules also extended the application of the Hague Rules. Whilst the Hague Rules apply to all Bills of Lading issued in any contracting state, the Hague-Visby Rules apply to every Bill of Lading relating to the carriage of goods between ports in two different states if:
  • The Bill of Lading is issued in a contracting state, or
  • The carriage is from a contracting state, or
  • The contract shown by the Bill of Lading provided that the rules of convention or legislation of any state giving effect to them are to govern the contract (whatever may be the nationality of the ship, the carrier, the shipper, the consignee or any interested parties).
The Protocol also seeks to solve the problem caused by the carriage of goods in containers and pallets. When the goods are packed into carrier's container for his own convenience, each package in the container is treated as one unit for limitation purpose. If the container belongs to the shipper and is packed by him, the limitation question will depend on how the Bill of Lading is written.

If the Bill of Lading says "one container said to contain 15 cases", there will be 16 units (15 cases plus the container). But if the Bill of Lading states "one container said to contain general merchandise", the content will be considered as one unit only for limitation purpose.

The legal positions in this respect is, however, not quite clear as there have been contradictory court decisions on this limitation issue.

The Hamburg Rules

The amendments effected by the Hague-Visby did not satisfy the interest of carriers. The need for a complete revision of the Hague Rules led to the adoption of a new convention called the "United Nations Convention on the Carriage of Goods by Sea, 1978" at Hamburg, Germany in March 1978, hence it was called the "Hamburg Rules".

The liability of the carrier is based on the principle of presumed fault or neglect. This means that, as a rule, the burden of proof rest on the carrier.

The limits of liability of the carrier have been increased to 835 SDRs per package or shipping unit or 2.5 SDRs per kilo, whichever is higher.

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