ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of the book. The book provides an accessible introduction to multimodal transport law. It covers the contract of carriage in general, and the multimodal contract of carriage in particular. The book highlights the differences between contracts of carriage and forwarding contracts. It discusses the different transport documents, such as charter parties, (through) bills of lading, waybills, consignment notes and their multimodal equivalent. The book deals with the parties to a (multimodal) contract of carriage, the right of disposal, the right of suit and the position of the carrier's agents, servants and subcontractors. It deals with the question of which rules apply to the individual legs of a multimodal contract of carriage. These legs are sometimes governed by one of the international conventions, sometimes by mandatory domestic law and sometimes by contractual provisions.
