Insurance Company of North America v Blue Star (North America) Ltd and Ors (The “Columbia Star”) - US District Ct (SDNY)(Sweet DJ) - 19 June 1997

Carriage of goods by sea - Whether carrier entitled to rely on COGSA package limitation - Whether stowage of cargo on deck of container ship constituted unreasonable deviation

The plaintiff shippers (suing through their subrogee insurance company) sought damages from the defendants for a cargo loss. The defendants moved for partial summary judgment declaring that their liability to the plaintiff was limited by COGSA. The plaintiff cross-moved for partial summary judgment that COGSA was inapplicable on the grounds that above-deck stowage constituted an unreasonable deviation under the circumstances of a clean bill of lading requesting below deck stowage.