HOLLEMAN SPECIAL TRANSPORT & PROJECT CARGO SRL V CO UK SHIPPING AND TRADING LTD

[2022] EWHC 1114 (Comm), Commercial Court, Queen’s Bench Division, His Honour Judge Pelling QC, 4 April 2022

Contract of carriage (road) – Freight – Set-off – Daily rate payment under carriage or transport contract not amounting to freight – Set-off permitted – Convention on Contracts for the International Carriage of Goods by Road 1956

On 23 June 2020 the parties entered into a contract by which the claimant agreed to transport some wind turbine components by road between a port and a windfarm site both located in Sweden. The contract was contained in a document entitled "Transport contract" and though the transport did not cross a border, the contract was expressly made subject to the Convention on Contracts for the International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR). The claimant sought summary judgment in respect of unpaid freight and ancillary costs. A counterclaim by the defendant was to be resolved at trial.