Carriage of goods by sea—straight bill of lading—delivery without presentation of original bill of lading

A valuable cargo of wind turbine generating equipment was carried from India to Port Kembla on Beluga Fantastic. The ship’s master prepared “straight”, non-negotiable, freight pre-paid bills of lading but did not release them to the shipper in India, Suzlon Energy Ltd, because it had not paid freight to the ship’s time charterer, Headway Shipping. When the ship arrived in Port Kembla, the shipowner instituted proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia seeking to interplead by discharging the cargo to be held by the court pending resolution of a dispute between Suzlon and Headway about payment of freight. By order of the court, the Admiralty Marshal took custody of the cargo. The court then made an order reflecting the parties’ agreement that the cargo should be released by the Marshal to the receiver, Suzlon Energy Australia Pty Ltd, in return for the original bills of lading if the Suzlon companies paid $6.5m to Headway and $7m into court. Suzlon and Headway then sought a variation of that order, allowing delivery of the cargo without presentation of the original bills of lading.