12 Transfer of Bill of Lading Contracts by Statute

Subject(s):

Seafarers — Nationality of ships — Straits — Contract claims

This chapter discusses the statutory transfer of bill of lading contracts in the event of the goods failing to arrive, arriving short, or arriving damaged. It provides an outline of the two solutions to this problem under UK common law—the Bills of Lading Act 1855 and the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1992. The Bills of Lading Act 1855 was enacted for the purposes of transmitting the whole contract of carriage to the receiver while at the same time retaining the shipper’s liability. This legislation, however, did not last as it faced numerous problems arising from the linkage of the transfer of the bill of lading to the transfer of property. In 1992 the UK then passed the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act which confers the right of suit to the ‘lawful holder’ of the bill.