Where are you leading us, Ranger?

I may not be alone among commercial men in having difficulty with the decision of the English Court of Appeal in the case of Parsons Corporation & Others v The Owners of the Happy Ranger [2002] EWCA Civ 694 , delivered on 17 May this year. The case concerned (1) the interpretation of a clause paramount in a contract of carriage, (2) what is a ‘bill of lading’ for the purposes of the Hague/Hague Visby Rules and (3) the position of ‘straight’ bills of lading under English law.