UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE CARRIAGE OF …

1 UNITEDNATIONSCONVENTIONONTHECARRIAGEOFGO ODSBY SEA, 1978(HAMBURGRULES)UNITEDNAnONS1994 This edition of the"HamburgRules" incorporates theexplanatorynote by the UNCITRAL secretariatpre-viously issued of of of to non-contractual of righttolimit of the carrier and actual of of the ..Article IV. TRANSPORT 14. Issue of bill of 15. Contents of bill of 16. Bills of lading: reservations and evidentiary 17. Guarantees by the 18. Documents other than bills of V. CLAIMS AND 19. Notice of loss, damage or 20. Limitation of 21. Jurisdiction Article 22. OF THE 12. General 13. Special rules on dangerous OF THE 23..15 Article 24..15 Article 25..16 Article 26. Unit ..16 PART VII. 27. Depositary17 Article 28. Signature, Ratification, Acceptance, Approval, Accession.

2 17 Article 30. Entry ..18 Article 31. Denunciation of ..18 Article 32. Revision and amendment19 Article 33. Revision of the limitation amounts and unit of account ormonetary unit ..19 Article 34. Denunciation20 COMMONUNDERSTANDINGADOPTED BY THE UNITED NATIONSCONFERENCE ON THE CARRIAGE OF GOODS BY SEA..20 EXPLANATORYNOTE BY THE UNCITRAL SECRETARIAT ON THEUNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE CARRIAGE OF GOODSBY SEA, 1978(HAMBURG)..21 Introduction..21A. Background to the Hamburg Rules .. Hague Rules.. with the Hague Rules system .. towards revising the law governing the CARRIAGE of Salient features of the Hamburg of application .. of responsibility.. of carrier' .. cargo..245 Liability for delay .. limits of .. of carrier's servants and of benefit of limits of of the carrier and actual carrier; through CARRIAGE ..2610. Liability of.

3 2711. Transport documents ..2712. Claims and actions2813..29C. Uniformity ..29ivUnitedNationsConventionon ,1978 PREAMBLETHESTATES PARTIES TOTHISCONVENTION,HAVINGRECOGNIZEDthe desirability of determining by agreement certainrules relating to the CARRIAGE of goods by sea,HAVEDECIDEDto conclude a CONVENTION for this purpose and have theretoagreed as CONVENTION :1."Carrier"means any person by whom or in whose name a contractofcarriageofgoods by sea has been concluded with a "Actualcarrier" means any person to whom the performance of thecarriageofthe goods, orofpart of the CARRIAGE , has been entrusted by thecarrier, and includes any other person to whom suchperformancehas "Shipper"means any person bywhomor in whose- name or onwhosebehalfa contractofcarriageofgoods by sea has been concluded witha carrier, or any person by whom or in whose name or on whosebehalfthegoods are actually delivered to the carrier in relation to thecontractof carriageby "Consignee"means the person entitled to take deliveryofthe "Goods"includes live animals.

4 Where the goods are consolidated in acontainer, pallet or similar articleoftransport or where theyarepacked,"goods"includes such articleoftransport or packaging if supplied by ,6."Contract of CARRIAGE by sea" means any contract whereby the carrierundertakes against payment of freight to carry goods by sea from one portto another; however, a contract which involves CARRIAGE by sea and alsocarriage by some other means is deemed tobea contract of CARRIAGE by seafor the purposes of this CONVENTION only in so far as it relates to the carriageby "Bill of lading" means a document which evidences a contract ofcarriage by sea and the taking over or loading of the goods by the carrier, andby which the carrier undertakes to deliver the goods against surrender of thedocument. A provision in the document that the goods are to be delivered tothe order of a named person, or to order, or to bearer, constitutes such "Writing" includes,inter alia,telegram and The provisions of this CONVENTION are applicable to all contracts ofcarriage by sea between two different States, if.

5 (a)the port of loading as provided for in the contract of CARRIAGE by seais located in a Contracting State, or(b)the port of discharge as provided for in the contract of CARRIAGE bysea is located in a Contracting State, or(c)one of the optional ports of discharge provided for in the contract ofcarriage by sea is the actual port of discharge and such port is located in aContracting State, or(d)the bill of lading or other document evidencing the contract of car-riage by sea is issued in a Contracting State, or(e)the bill of lading or other document evidencing the contract of car-riage by sea provides that the provisions of this CONVENTION or the legislationof any State giving effect to them are to govern the The provisions of this CONVENTION are applicable without regard to thenationality of the ship, the carrier, the actual carrier, the shipper, the consigneeor any other interested The provisions of this CONVENTION are not applicable to , where a bill of lading is issued pursuant to a charter-party, theprovisions of the CONVENTION apply to such a bill of lading if it governs therelation between the carrier and the holder of the bill of lading, not being contract provides for future CARRIAGE of goods in a series of ship-ments during an agreed period, the provisions of this CONVENTION apply toeach shipment.

6 However, where a shipment ismadeunder a charter-party,the provisions of paragraph 3 of this article ConventionIn theinterpretationandapplicationoftheprov isionsofthisConventionregardshall be had to itsinternationalcharacterand to the need OF THE Theresponsibilityofthecarrierfor the goodsunderthisConventioncovers theperiodduring which thecarrieris inchargeof the goods at theportofloading,during thecarriageand at the port article, thecarrieris deemedtobe inchargeof the goods(a)from the time he has taken over the goods from:(i)the shipper, or apersonacting on his behalf; or(ii)anauthorityorotherthird party to whom,pursuantto law orregulations applicableat theportofloading,the goods must behandedoverforshipment;(b)until the time he hasdeliveredthe goods:(i)byhandingover the goods to theconsignee;or(ii)in cases where theconsigneedoes not receive the goods fromthecarrier,byplacingthem at thedisposalof theconsigneeinaccordancewith thecontractor with the law or with the usageof theparticulartrade,applicableat the portofdischarge.

7 Or(Hi)byhandingoverthe goods to anauthorityorotherthird partyto whom,pursuantto law orregulationsapplicableat the portofdischarge,the goods must Inparagraphs1 and 2 of this article,referenceto thecarrieror to theconsigneemeans, in addition to thecarrieror theconsignee,the servants oragents,respectivelyofthecarrieror Thecarrieris liable for lossresultingfrom loss of ordamageto thegoods, as well as from delay indelivery,if theoccurrencewhichcausedtheloss,damageor delay tookplacewhile the goods were in hischargeasdefinedin article 4, unless thecarrierproves that he, hisservantsor agentstook allmeasuresthat couldreasonablyberequiredto avoid theoccurrenceand Delay indeliveryoccurs when the goods have not beendeliveredattheportofdischargeprovide dfor in thecontractofcarriageby sea within3the timeexpresslyagreed upon or, in the absence of such agreement, withinthe time which it would bereasonableto requireofa diligentcarrier, havingregard to thecircumstancesofthe The personentitledto make a claim for the loss of goods may treatthe goods as lost if they have not beendeliveredas required by article 4within 60consecutivedays following the expiry of the time for deliveryaccording toparagraph2ofthis (a)Thecarrieris liable(i)

8 For lossofor damage to the goods or delay in deliverycausedby fire, if theclaimantproves that the fire arose from fault orneglecton the part of the carrier, his servants or agents;(ii)for such loss, damage or delay in delivery which is proved bytheclaimantto have resulted from the fault orneglectofthecarrier, his servants or agents in taking all measures that couldreasonablyberequiredto put out the fire and avoid ormitigateitsconsequences.(b)In caseoffire on board the ship affecting the goods, if theclaimantorthe carrier so desires, a survey inaccordancewith shippingpracticesmust beheld into the cause andcircumstancesof the fire, and a copyofthesurveyor'sreport shall be madeavailableon demand to thecarrierand the With respect to live animals, thecarrieris not liable for loss, damageor delay in delivery resulting from any special risksinherentin that that he hascompliedwith any special instruc-tions given to himbythe shipperrespectingthe animals and that, in thecircumstancesofthe case, the loss, damage or delay in delivery could beattributedto such risks, it ispresumedthat the loss, damage or delay indeliverywas so caused, unless there isproofthat all or a part of the loss.

9 Damage or delay in delivery resulted from fault or neglect on the part of thecarrier, his servants or Thecarrieris not liable, except in general average, whereloss,damageor delay in delivery resulted from measurestosave life or fromreasonablemeasures to savepropertyat Where fault or neglectonthe part of the carrier, his servants or agentscombineswith another cause toproduceloss, damage or delay in delivery, thecarrieris liable onlytotheextent that the loss, damage or delay indeliveryisattributableto such fault or neglect, thecarrierproves theamount of the loss, damage or delay in delivery (a)The liability of the carrier for loss resulting from loss of ordamage to goods according to theprovisionsof article5islimitedto an4amount equivalent to 835 units of account per package or other shipping unitor unitsofaccount per kilogram of gross weight of the goods lost ordamaged, whichever is the higher.

10 (b)The liability of the carrier for delay in delivery according to theprovisions of article 5 is limited to an amount equivalent to two and a halftimes the freight payable for the goods delayed, but not exceeding the totalfreight payable under the contract of CARRIAGE of goods by sea.(c)In no case shall the aggregate liability of the carrier, under bothsubparagraphs(a)and(b)of this paragraph, exceed the limitation whichwould be established under subparagraph(a)of this paragraph for total lossof the goods with respect to which such liability was For the purpose of calculating which amount is the higher in accor-dance with paragraph 1(a)of this article, the following rules apply:(a)Where a container, pallet or similar article of transport is used toconsolidate goods, the package or other shipping units enumerated in the billof lading, if issued, or otherwise in any other document evidencing the con-tract of CARRIAGE by sea, as packed in such article of transport are deemedpackages or shipping units.