ABSTRACT
The carrier’s first line of defence is to seek to undermine the case made out by the claimant, that the carrier is in breach of contract. The second line of defence is to raise one or more of any relevant defences in the contract of carriage. Commonly, the carrier accepts a strict liability in principle1 but subject to a string of defences based on specific excuses.2 If the carrier establishes that one of these caused the loss or damage, the result, with one reservation, is that the carrier is exonerate.
