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    What Are Hague-Visby Rules - Marine Insight

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    anand rao
    The Hague-Visby Rules originated as the International Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules of Law Relating to Bills of Lading in the early 1920s to bring order to maritime issues. The rules were amended in the late 1960s and govern the liabilities of parties in a cargo ship charter. The rules stipulate requirements for shipping companies and vessel operators, such as providing accurate cargo information and ensuring a vessel is suitable for cargo. Though many countries follow the rules, some only follow parts and others have established separate laws. Criticisms argue the rules favor operators over shipping companies by exempting operators from liability in some cases. The rules still provide structure for maritime disputes despite flaws.

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    What Are Hague-Visby Rules - Marine Insight

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    anand rao
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    The Hague-Visby Rules originated as the International Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules of Law Relating to Bills of Lading in the early 1920s to bring order to maritime issues. The rules were amended in the late 1960s and govern the liabilities of parties in a cargo ship charter. The rules stipulate requirements for shipping companies and vessel operators, such as providing accurate cargo information and ensuring a vessel is suitable for cargo. Though many countries follow the rules, some only follow parts and others have established separate laws. Criticisms argue the rules favor operators over shipping companies by exempting operators from liability in some cases. The rules still provide structure for maritime disputes despite flaws.

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    What are Hague-Visby Rules_Marine Insight

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    The Hague-Visby Rules originated as the International Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules of Law Relating to Bills of Lading in the early 1920s to bring order to maritime issues. The rules were amended in the late 1960s and govern the liabilities of parties in a cargo ship charter. The rules stipulate requirements for shipping companies and vessel operators, such as providing accurate cargo information and ensuring a vessel is suitable for cargo. Though many countries follow the rules, some only follow parts and others have established separate laws. Criticisms argue the rules favor operators over shipping companies by exempting operators from liability in some cases. The rules still provide structure for maritime disputes despite flaws.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    106 views3 pages

    What Are Hague-Visby Rules - Marine Insight

    Uploaded by

    anand rao
    The Hague-Visby Rules originated as the International Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules of Law Relating to Bills of Lading in the early 1920s to bring order to maritime issues. The rules were amended in the late 1960s and govern the liabilities of parties in a cargo ship charter. The rules stipulate requirements for shipping companies and vessel operators, such as providing accurate cargo information and ensuring a vessel is suitable for cargo. Though many countries follow the rules, some only follow parts and others have established separate laws. Criticisms argue the rules favor operators over shipping companies by exempting operators from liability in some cases. The rules still provide structure for maritime disputes despite flaws.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    What are Hague-Visby Rules?

    By Anish | In: Maritime Law | Last Updated on October 13, 2019

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    The Hague Rules set an important precedent to maritime issues that were otherwise plagued by
    chaotic turn-of-events. Drafted and passed in the early 1920s, the international maritime law was
    originally outlined and is still formally known as the ‘International Convention for the Unification of
    Certain Rules of Law Relating to Bills of Lading.’

    The Hague Protocol was amended in the late 1960s and the maritime law post its amendment
    came to be known across global maritime channels as the ‘Hague-Visby Rules.’

    The Hague-Visby Rules stipulate the extent of the governance of the waybill for a cargo ship being
    chartered alongside the liabilities that stand to be potentially imposed on the parties agreeing to the
    charter. Thus it follows that in order for the Hague-Visby amendment to be applicable to a particular
    cargo charter; the waybill is required as the primary document of verify the authenticity of the
    consignment and all the other details as provided by the concerned personnel chartering the
    vessel.

    Though almost every country engaged in maritime activities across the world, follows the outlining
    of the provisos of The Hague Protocol, certain countries haven’t accepted all the stipulations of the
    international maritime law. Some of these countries either;

    Follow the stipulations of the original Hague Rules or,


    Have established a separate law dealing with the governance and ambit of waybills, whilst
    including the stipulations of the Hague-Visby protocol or,
    Have outright not sanctioned the acceptance of the provisos of the Hague-Visby protocol
    Each of the 10 articles of the Hague-Visby law, outline in detail the requirement on the part of the
    shipping corporate that engages the vessel for the necessary operation and the chartering
    company that provides the required cargo ship.

    As per the stipulations specified, the shipping corporate is expected to supply up-to-date and the
    most accurate of data pertaining to the cargo potentially being consigned. If shipping corporate fails
    to do so, then as per the stipulations of the Protocol, neither the chartered vessel nor the operator
    of the vessel will be held culpable for any loss arising out of any accident during the course of the
    transit.

    At the same time, on the part of the operator of the cargo ship, it is expected, as per the rules of
    the law that the vessel engaged is:

    Thoroughly suited to be utilised for the cargo transiting operation


    All the vessel’s cargo decks are suitable to be loaded with the necessary cargo load and are
    appropriately equipped with the required infrastructure

    In terms of the ambit of the terminology of cargo, as per the outlining of the international maritime
    law, all objects and commodities except cattle, fowl and all those variants of cargo which would be
    required to be placed in the open decks come within the stipulations of the Hague Protocol.

    Criticisms and Scepticisms about the Hague-Visby Rules

    As imposing and binding as the Hague Rules are, maritime experts and shipping conglomerates
    argue that the law is greatly in favour with the cargo ships’ operators than the shipping companies.
    This argument stems from the fact that while the law requires the shipping companies to disclose
    thorough information about their cargo, in case of any lack of information so provided and a mishap
    occurring, the operators are absolutely exempted from being liable for the loss of cargo.

    Similarly even in case of a shipping organisation providing all the required cargo details in the
    waybill, operators have been exempted from paying recompense to the aggrieved shipping
    company on the basis of several defined points.
    In case the cargo has to be thrown into the open sea on account of any maritime emergency,
    the cargo ship’s operators are required to provide partial compensation to the shipping
    corporate incurring the loss, as per the Hague-Visby Rules.
    Such recompense however can be claimed by the shipping corporate either on the basis of
    each parcel of the entirety of the cargo shipment or on the basis of each kilogram of the total
    gross cargo tonnage carried by the ship.
    A shipping corporate claiming financial recompense also needs to note that its claim will be
    accepted and validated only if the exact quantitative details about the cargo have been
    provided and listed in the waybill.
    Additionally, the monetary value for the recompense depends on the cost of similar cargo in
    the market, while the currency utilised to calculate the amount of recompense depends on
    the geographic location where the accident has occurred.

     Hague Rules: Conclusion

    With many glaring discrepancies in its role as a viable maritime dispute settling authority, the
    Hague-Visby Rules do indeed present a vulnerable lawful structure. Their presence, in spite of their
    fallacies, does indeed fill a long-standing void of arbitration in the maritime sector. Two more
    important laws have been established in the footsteps of the Hague Protocol. Through these
    established and laid-out norms, it can be hoped that an even brighter lawful light is shed upon the
    much-evolved marine sector.

    References

    dutchcivillaw, maritimeadvocate, admiraltylaw

    Image Credits

    artusounitmarine, blogspot

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