ABSTRACT
The origins of this book go back more than twenty years, when a London solicitor, working on a cargo claim, sought expert advice in the University of Cambridge School of Agriculture. His case concerned the Baltic Swift, a refrigerated ship which had discharged a cargo of carrots in mouldy condition after a voyage from Cyprus to the UK. The lawyer was Mr K.G. Elmslie, of Richards Butler & Co., acting on behalf of cargo receivers. The plant pathologist he consulted was Dr RH. Lowings, who learned that the case was one of many in which cargoes had out-turned in poor condition, and in which the claimants were fruit and vegetable importers belonging to the National Federation of Fruit & Potato Trades. The court hearing threw light on several aspects of the problem, but cargo claims continued to be a source of concern to shippers, ship owners and receivers alike. As a prospective research student in plant pathology, I was offered the problem as a 3-year doctoral research project, funded by the importers and exporters of Cyprus carrots. I am grateful to all the people who engineered this link, most particularly Peter Lowings, who became my research supervisor, Denis Mead, then Chief Executive of the National Federation, and the late Joseph Emanuel, former Chairman of the Federation Claims Committee.
