Charmax Trading Ltd v WT Sea Air Asia Ltd and Anr – High Court of Hong Kong SAR (Reyes J) – 1 December 2009

Carriage of goods by sea – Bill of lading – Misdelivery – Bills of lading consigned to order of bank with purchasers as notify party - Goods delivered to purchasers against presentation of original bills of lading but without bills having been endorsed by bank – Whether shipper entitled to summary judgment for balance of purchase price

The plaintiff (“Charmax”) sold goods to Marchpole and Homebody in the UK. Marchpole and Homebody were related companies. Charmax delivered the goods to the first defendant (“WT”) in Hong Kong for carriage by sea (in respect of some of the goods) and air (in respect of the rest) to England. Charmax received four bills of lading and four air waybills from WT. The bills of lading were all consigned to HSBC or its order. The air waybills were all consigned to HSBC. The bills of lading and air waybills named Marchpole or Homebody as notify parties.