Maritime Law: Contracts of Sale, Bills of Lading, and Rights of Buyers and Sellers

Running head: MARITIME LAW
Maritime Law
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Answer 1:
It is worth mentioning the importance of C.I.F contracts which acts as a contract of sale
between the seller and the purchaser. It is noteworthy to mention here that the Carriage of Goods
by Sea Act 1992 has provided certain rights to the consignee of a bill of lading regarding the
contract of carriage of goods. However, Section 2(1) of the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1992
provided the fact that the person possessing rights under the Act also possesses certain
liabilities1. In this regard, it is worth mentioning the fact that if a person is not entitled to rights
under Section 2 (1) of the COGSA Act 1992 then he is not entitled to the liabilities under the
said contract. However, it is necessary that both the buyer and his representative should make
themselves liable for the contract according to the provisions of Section 3(1) of the COGSA Act
19922. It is important that the demand made by the carrier regarding the goods has to be the same
goods for the purpose of making him liable. In such cases, the buyers are not at the liability if the
goods as damaged by any kind. The buyer is at the authority to claim damages regarding the
goods in relation to which the bill of lading has been issued. In this way the liabilities in the
contract of carriage can be incurred. In The Aegean Sea [1998] 2 Lloyd's Rep 393 it was held
that the goods that has been demanded by the buyer must be same after delivery. It was also held
that the demand for delivery of goods shall be considered if the goods were at the same condition
at the time of loading into the ship.
In the present case study it can be observed that Sophie entered into a contract of sale
with Samantha that was based on C.I.F terms. However, a bill of lading has been issued in the
1 Yussof, Badrah Binti, and Mohamed Daud. "Ocean carriage-what constitutes
seaworthiness." Journal of Science Technology and Humanities 1.1 (2015): 47-52.
2 Magashi, Awwal Ilyas, and Abdulrashid Lawan Haruna. "Revisiting Freedom of Contract in the
Contract of Carriage of Goods by Sea under the Rotterdam Rules: Service Contracts in
Disguise?." IIUM Law Journal 24.1 (2016): 233.
3 [1998] 2 Lloyd's Rep 39.

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name of Samantha’s company in the relevant consigned boxes. Therefore, it can be advised to
Samantha that she can sue Sophie for breach of contract as the goods delivered to her were not
same as it was before. Therefore Samantha is at the authority to sue Sophie for breach of contract
according to the terms based on the C.I.F contract.
Answer 2:
It is noteworthy to mention here that in a C.I.F contract, the bill of lading acts as
evidence. However, the bill of lading do not form a complete contract between the buyer and the
purchaser, it only acts as evidence. It was held in Ss Ardennes v ss Ardennes [1951] 1KB 554
that a bill of lading acts as an evidence in contract of carriage of goods. In this case it was
observed that an oral agreement took place between the shipper and the owners of the ship for
the purpose of proceeding directly to the port destination. In this regard, the conditions of the Bill
of Lading incorporated a clause which facilitated the ships to provide stoppage at different ports
before ending at the actual destination. Therefore, it was held by the Court that the Bill of Lading
could be varied through oral undertaking. However, in some cases the bill of lading acts as a
contract between the buyer and the carrier and not just mere evidence. This is due to the reason
that the buyer shall not have any knowledge regarding the oral contracts agreed between the
shipper and carrier. Therefore, it was held in Leduc &Co v Ward5 that terms of agreement
exemplified by the bill of lading are conclusive in nature and therefore no evidence can be
introduced in order to contravene them. In this regard, it can be stated that Bills of Lading Act
1985 provided the buyer and the consignee with the right to sue in consideration of the goods
according to the particulars of the contract incorporated in the Bill of Lading6.
4 [1951] 1KB 55.
5 (1888) 20 QBD 475.
6 Jiang, Tianyi, and Zhen Jing. "Shipper's Title to Sue After the Transfer of the Bill of Lading-A
Comparative Study for the Reform of Chinese Maritime Law." Journal of Maritime Law and