Wabco Trade Co., Division of World Standard Export, Ltd. v. S.S. Inger Skou and S.S. Amaryllis, GCC Shipping Co. Ltd. d/b/a Constellation Line and Constellation Navigation, Inc. - District Judge Sweet - United States District Court (SNY) - Oct. 25, 1979

Ocean carriers’ liability after contract of carriage has lapsed

Plaintiffs, Wabco, sued the charterer of a vessel and its agent for the loss of a cargo of four motor graders. The graders were to have been shipped to Lebanon but because of the unsettled conditions there Wabco instructed the charterers to keep them in Piraeus until further notice. The defendants agreed orally to this arrangement. The cargo was held in Piraeus for three months and then reshipped to Lebanon, where it disappeared when the warehouse, in which it was stored, was ransacked.