ABSTRACT
Shipper’s liability under the Rules At common law, the shipper owes an absolute duty to notify the shipowner of any dangerous characteristics in the cargo to be shipped. The reason for imposing liability is that risks inherent in the cargo should be borne by the shipper who is better able to ascertain them than the carrier. The shipper’s lack of knowledge of the dangerous characteristics of the cargo will not amount to a defence.137 However, it will have a defence if those characteristics were known, or ought to have been known, by the shipowner. Thus, in The Athanasia Comminos 138 a time charterer was not liable to a shipowner in respect of an explosion which occurred in a cargo of coal due to omissions of methane. This was a risk inherent in the carriage of coal of which the shipowner ought to have been aware. Therefore, by consenting to carry coal, it assumed the risks attendant in carrying such a cargo. Where, however, the cargo is due to some defect in its condition, of which the shipowner cannot be expected to be aware, rather than due to the risks inherent in the carriage of the cargo in its usual condition, the shipper will be liable.139 A cargo can be inherently dangerous, or dangerous because it has not been appropriately treated. In The Amphion140 a shipper was liable under its charterparty for damage to the vessel caused by a cargo of bagged fishmeal which ignited during unloading. The shipper had failed to apply antioxidant treatment, which substantially reduces the risk of ignition, to the cargo. A cargo can also be physically safe but still regarded as dangerous due to non -physical hazards associated with it. In Mitchell, Cotts and Co v Steel Brothers and Co Ltd141 the shipper was liable for delays in the unloading of a cargo of rice at Piraeus during the First World War due to their inability to obtain the necessary permission from the British Government under wartime regulations.
