KYOKUYO CO LTD V AP MØLLER-MAERSK A/S (T/A "MAERSK LINE")

[2017] EWHC 654 (Comm), Queen's Bench Division, Commercial Court, Mr Justice Andrew Baker, 29 March 2017

Carriage of goods by sea - Bills of lading - Package limitation - Whether "package or unit" meaning the TEU or the individual pieces or bags of tuna - Hague-Visby Rules - Hague Rules - Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1971, section 1

Kyokuyo claimed as receiver of three container loads of frozen tuna, shipped under a single contract of carriage at Cartagena (Spain) for carriage by Maersk Line to Japan. The carriage contract entitled Kyokuyo to have bills of lading issued, and Maersk drew up a draft straight consigned bill of lading subject to its own terms. Following delays in the course of carriage, the parties agreed to issue three separate waybills of the three containers. Two of the containers were delivered at Shimizu following the originally agreed discharge at Yokohama; the third was discharged at Yokohama. The tuna arrived in damaged condition as a result of raised temperatures during carriage and rough handling during restuffing in replacement containers.