A recent decision of the Indian Supreme Court, The Chairman,
Board of Trustees, Cochin Port Trust -v- M/S Arebee Star Maritime
Agencies pvt Ltd & ors., has helpfully clarified
conflicting national case law concerning which party is obliged to
pay port storage fees incurred by abandoned cargoes. This is an
issue frequently encountered in relation to off-spec recyclable
materials, which were the cargoes abandoned in the concerned
case.
The Indian Supreme Court held that, once the Indian port takes
custody of the goods, and provides a receipt for the same to the
shipowner (or their agent), the shipowner cannot be held liable for
any further storage charges at the port. Rather, the port must seek
to deliver the cargo to the consignee and, if it fails to do so,
any attempt to recover storage costs or associated cargo related
expenses must be directed at the consignee and not the
shipowner.
