CSBP LTD V BBC CHARTERING CARRIERS GMBH & CO KG

[2021] FCA 554, Federal Court of Australia, Rares J, 7 May 2021

Contracts (bill of lading) – Breach – Faulty cranes on board ship – Extended discharge leading to additional costs – Prima facie case – Service of documents upon defendant in Germany – Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters, 1965

The plaintiff CSBP Ltd (CSBP) was the consignee named in a bill of lading issued on behalf of the master of Caspian Harmony on 24 May 2020. It sought damages for breach of the contract of carriage. The bill of lading named the defendant BBC Chartering Carriers GmbH & Co KG (BBCC) as carrier and noted that 10,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate in 8,000 bags of 1,250 kg each had been loaded onboard the ship, freight prepaid. The cargo was loaded in Puerto Angamos, Chile, for delivery to Kwinana in Western Australia. The bill of lading was on the 1994 Congenbill 1994 form commonly used with the Gencon 1994 uniform general charter party. There was no suggestion that CSBP was a party to the charterparty. At the discharge port, CSBP had presented a copy of the bill of lading. On the available evidence, discharge was marred by trouble with the ship’s cranes but eventually completed using the cranes of another vessel. CSBP sought permission to serve BBCC with the documents in the proceedings in Germany.