The Court of Appeal re-examines on deck shipment case
Geofizika DD v MMB International Ltd (2010).
In April 2010, the Court of Appeal granted an appeal of a
decision which at first glance may appear to be of limited
application to freight forwarding agents, but upon closer
inspection may have a wider impact on all insurance
intermediaries.
In July 2009, Greenshields Cowie (freight forwarding agents)
were found liable at first instance to MMB International (the
seller) who had, in turn, been found liable to Geofizika (the
consignee) for the loss of two specialised Land Rover ambulances.
The ambulances washed overboard in December 2006, in the Bay of
Biscay, en route to a drilling exploration site in Libya. They were
delivered to the vessel unpacked, unprotected and uncontainerised.
Unbeknownst to all involved, the carrier had stowed the vehicles on
deck, notwithstanding a booking confirmation which stated:
