Attached please find a report from our correspondents in Melbourne, Australia, HolmanFenwick & Willan about a recent decision handed down by the Full Court of the FederalCourt on the matter of corrosion damage to the steel coils caused by condensation withinthe cargo hold together with our free Japanese translation. This is the follow up report of our Japan P&I News No. 536 dated 13th October 2006.
The Full Court upheld the decision at first instance and that the majority found thatthe cargo interests had established a cause of action against the "carrier" pursuant to Article 3 Rule 2 of the Australian Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1991. As such, the decision appears to represent an extension of the degree of due diligence which must be exercised by a "carrier" when considering the cargo worthiness of its vessels for the carriage of particular cargoes.
We hope this would be of your help.