Carriage of goods by sea - Consignments of bagged coffee beans in containers carried on LCL/FCL terms - Cargo found to be damaged by condensation - Temporal scope of Hague Rules - Burden of proof-Whether carrier failed properly and carefully to load and carry the goods - Whether carrier entitled to rely on 'inherent vice' exception - Whether damage inevitable - Hague Rules, article Ⅲ rule 2 and article Ⅳ rule 2(m)

摘要

The claimant cargo consignees brought claims against the defendant carrier for condensation damage to nine consignments of washed Columbian green coffee beans carried by the defendant in 20 dry, unventilated 20 ft containers, each loaded with 275 hessian 70 kg bags, from Buenaventura in Columbia to various destinations in northern Germany. In each case the bill of lading was on LCL/FCL (less than container load/full container load) terms, the effect of which was that the defendant's stevedores were responsible for preparing the containers and stuffing the bags into them at the container terminal. Before stuffing, the bare corrugated steel of the containers was lined with Kraft paper. After stuffing, the containers were moved to the export area of Buenaventura, where they were loaded onto vessels owned or operated by the defendant on various dates between January and April 2012. The consignments were offloaded at Balboa in Panama and transhipped onto vessels bound for ports in northern Europe, before eventual delivery in Germany.