Immovable islands, bills of lading, time bars and title to sue

Derek Luxford, at Hicksons, reviews a recent case on bills of lading

With apologies to William Shakespeare and Macbeth, the bridge team on MV Ikan Jahan carrying a mixed cargo of copper concentrate and zinc ingots from two east coast ports in Australia (Newcastle and Townsville) to discharge ports in Thailand and India, did not exclaim on the morning of 18 December 2011 “Is that an island which I see before me …?”.