ABSTRACT
At the 1877 Antwerp Conference, Richard Lowndes successfully moved an amendment to the 1864 Rule, by which the following wording was added: except that no compensation be made for damage done by water to packages which have been on fire. In the meetings of the International Sub-Committee preparatory to the Sydney Conference, the United States MLA tabled proposals for further amendment, one of which would have had the effect of reinstating the exclusion of damage "to such parts of the ship or bulk cargo, or to such separate packages of cargo, as have been on fire". More importantly, Rule III deals only with damage done in extinguishing fire. The reason for the "heat of the fire" amendment was explained at Sydney by a member of the US delegation by reference to a case in which water was applied to extinguish a fire in the engine room of a reefer ship.
