The Court of Appeal handed down a judgment this week in MSC
Mediterranean Shipping Company SA v Glencore International AG
[2017] EWCA Civ 365 relating to a dispute arising out of
the Electronic Release System ("ERS") in operation at the
port of Antwerp.
Background to ERS
Under the ERS, carriers provide computer generated electronic
numbers which are given to the relevant receivers or their agents,
against bills of lading, and the port terminal. These numbers are
given instead of Delivery Orders or Release Notes. The holders of
the bills then have to present the pin codes to the terminal to
take delivery of the goods. In practice this is done by the
collecting driver entering the pin codes manually to gain access to
the terminal and collect the containers. This system has been
running for the last six years, but it is not mandatory and is not
adopted by all the carriers using the port.
