ABSTRACT
The so-called actual carrier as a concept is contrasted with that of carrier (or contracting carrier). The concept first appeared in Article 1 (c) of the Guadalajara Convention, and was then introduced into the Hamburg Rules. In the Chinese Maritime Code, the legal rules on the actual carrier were also established with the Hamburg Rules as a point of reference. In this chapter, the applicable scope of the rules of actual carrier is expressed as 'under' instead of 'in' the voyage charterparty. The purpose in doing so is to highlight that although the rules on the actual carrier are not directly applicable to the voyage charter, they are applicable to the bill of lading issued under the charterparty. In other words, the rules on the actual carrier are to be indirectly applied to the voyage charterparty.
