Recently 16 states signed up to the new Rotterdam Rules which concern contracts of carriage wholly or partly by sea.

The Rules have been designed to regulate marine cargo liabilities internationally and may ultimately replace the Hague Rules, the Hague-Visby Rules and the Hamburg rules in those countries that are signatories to those conventions.

The sixteen states who signed were Congo, Denmark, France, Gabon, Ghana, Greece, Guinea, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Poland, Senegal, Spain, Switzerland, Togo and the United States. China is a public supporter of the Rules but is not yet a signatory, whilst New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Japan, Finland and Crotia have not yet signed the Convention.

20 signatories are required for the new rules to come into force, and whilst the USA has been very vocal in its support of the rules, the European Shippers Council (amongst others) believes that the new rules could put shippers in a worse position than they were prior to the introduction of the original Hague Rules.

The Rotterdam Rules have been six years in the making, and are argued by some to be necessary to reflect the recent modernization in trade practices as well as provide for industry needs in respect of cargo moving door-to-door.

“Reproduced by permission of FP Marine Risks Limited: www.fp-marine.com”