Cases of interest include: Westshore Terminals v Leo Ocean (The Cape Apricot), § 48, where it was held: that a letter of undertaking given to secure the release of a vessel from arrest was valid and binding, and that the Federal Courts Act, s.43(8) did not permit the arrest of multiple vessels; Offshore Interiors v Worldspan Marine, § 38, where the Federal Court approved the private sale of a deteriorating vessel; Comtois International Exports v Livestock Express, § 29, where it was held the court had no discretion to not enforce an arbitration clause in a charterparty/booking note; and Webasto (Hagedorn) v Shasta Equities (The Helios), § 46, where the Federal Court of Appeal held that preliminary investigation reports were not privileged, even though counsel had been retained.

The only two cases involving carriage of goods were: ArcelorMittal Mines Canada v AK Steel, § 23, where the purchaser of a cargo of iron ore pellets obtained a judgment for indemnity against the vendor of the pellets on the basis that the pellets delivered had excessive moisture content; and Oceanex v Praxair Canada, § 37, where a shipper was held liable for damage caused to the ship as a consequence of a rupture of a container of liquid oxygen.

In Westshore Terminals v Leo Ocean (The Cape Apricot), § 47, the Federal Court held that a pilot whose certificate of competency issued under the Canada Shipping Act 2001 had expired was nevertheless a “licensed pilot” within the meaning of the Pilotage Act, with the result that the pilot was entitled to limit his liability and the shipowner was liable for his negligence. In Atkinson (Guardian ad litem of) v Gypsea Rose (Ship), § 24, a small vessel collision case, liability was apportioned 80% to the moving vessel whose operator was impaired and 20% to the stationary vessel. The case is also notable for holding that the owner of the moving vessel was not liable even though there were some maintenance issues with the boat that contributed to the accident.