When does a Bill of Lading become a Contract of Carriage..??

A brilliant question.. But before discussing the answer, let us first look at some definitions..

• Bill of Lading means the transport document issued by a carrier undertaking the carriage of goods from point A to point B to the Merchant..
• Carriage means the whole or any part of the operations and services undertaken by the Carrier in respect of the Goods..
• Carrier means the entity that arranges the carriage of the goods and issues the Bill of Lading to the Merchant..
• Merchant means the entity who owns or has possession of the goods carried by the carrier.. Merchant may be the Shipper, Exporter, Consignee, Receiver of the Goods or any person owning or entitled to the possession of the goods or the document of title to the goods (bill of lading and/or anyone acting on behalf of any such person..

In simple terms, a Contract of Carriage is a contract entered into between the Carrier and the Merchant for the movement of goods from point A to point B using an agreed mode of transport at an agreed price.. This contract maybe verbal or written..

In technical terms and in terms of the popularly used conventions and rules covering the Carriage of Goods by Sea such as Hague Rules (1924), Hague-Visby Rules (1968), US COGSA (United States Carriage of Goods by Sea Act), Hamburg Rules (1978), and Rotterdam Rules (2009) a Contract of Carriage is defined as ............

Read the full article here..