Changes

Summary

The Dutch Supreme Court (“DSC”) held that the purpose of the duty of care that is placed on the carrier in Art. III r.1 (a), (b) and (c) of the Hague-Visby Rules (HVR) is to ensure that the vessel protects the cargo from perils of the sea, so that the vessel is fit to carry the cargo. This means that the carrier must ensure that containers that it provides to the shipper for carriage on board of the vessel should also be fit to carry cargo in. It follows from this duty of care that, in the same manner that applies to the hold of a vessel, no water should be able to enter into those containers. By providing rusty containers with holes in them which allowed seawater to enter the containers, the carrier had breached its duty of care. By Art.III r.8 and Art.IV r.1 HVR the carrier could not benefit from the exclusion clause contained in its bill of lading and the exceptions contained in Art.IV r.2 HVR. Furthermore, the DSC held that Dutch national law may not be applied when interpreting a treaty that contains uniform international law.