The Cargo Letter
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The Cargo Letter |
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Section A: Section: Trade, Financial & Inland News|
Section B: FF World Air News |
Section C: FF World Ocean News | Section
D: FF in Cyberspace |
Section E: The Forwarder Broker World
City of Columbus v. Ours Garage & Wrecker Serv., Inc.
U.S. Supreme Court
June 20, 2002
INTERSTATE COMMERCE ACT (The Act Does Not Bar a State from Delegating to its
Political Subdivisions the State's Authority to Establish Safety Regulations
Governing Motor Carriers of Property). U.S. Supreme Court held 7-2 (opinion
by Ginsburg, dissent by Scalia) that the Interstate Commerce Act (Act)
providing exemption to a State from federal law preemption does not preclude
a State from delegating its powers to municipalities & other local units.
Ours Garage & Wrecker Service, brought suit against the City of Columbus
(City) to enjoin enforcement of the City's two-truck regulations on the
ground that they were preempted by the Act. The District Court agreed. The
6th Circuit affirmed.
On appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed, holding that the exception from
preemption applied to local as well as State regulations. The Court reasoned
that preemption analysis starts with the presumption that State police powers
are not to be superseded unless Congress shows a clear & manifest purpose for
doing so, which is not provided here.
http://laws.findlaw.com/us/000/01-419.html
Federal Maritime Commission Vs. South Carolina Ports
U.S. Supreme Court
May 28, 2002
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=000&invol=01-46
Kukje Hwajae Insurance v. M/V Hyundai Liberty
9th Circuit Court of Appeals
June 28, 2002
NVOCC/Jurisdictional Clause: Cargo owner is bound by the forum selection
clause of a bill of lading issued by the carrier to the NVOCC and the NVOCC
may take advantage of the statutory limit of liability referred to in its
bill of lading. In the instant case, a cargo owner contracted with a
non-vessel-operating common carrier (NVOCC), which issued a bill of lading,
to have its cargo transported from Korea to Los Angeles. The NVOCC's bill of
lading provided that disputes ere to resolved in U.S. court. The carrier
issued its own bill of lading to the NVOCC. The cargo was damaged en route.
Plaintiff cargo insurer brought suit in LA against the vessel & the NVOCC for
full damages. The court held that, since the NVOCC acted as the agent of the
shipper, the shipper was bound by the forum selection clause of the carrier's
bill of lading - which provided that disputes were to be resolved in Korea.
The court further held that the bill of lading issued by the NVOCC met the
COGSA fair opportunity requirement, allowing the shipper to declare a higher
value that the statutory limit. Since the shipper did not declare a higher
value on the bill of lading, it was bound by the statutory limit. NVOCC
represented by the lawyers of Countryman & McDaniel in U.S. District Court.
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/9th/0056970p.pdf
Bank One Louisiana v. M/V Mr. Dean
5th Circuit Court of Appeals
June 10, 2002
Maritime Liens/Charter Parties: A maritime lien for breach of a charter
attaches when the owner places the vessel at the charterer's disposal &
remains inchoate until perfected by a breach or discharged by the undisturbed
end of the charter. Thus the charterer's maritime lien for breach of the
charter had priority over the bank's preferred ship mortgage since the vessel
was placed at the charterer's disposal before the mortgage was recorded,
although the owner's breach of the charter occurred after the mortgage was
recorded.
www.admiraltylawguide.com/circt/5thmrdean.html
Cooper/T. Smith Stevedoring v. Director, OWCP
5th Circuit Court of Appeals
June 5, 2002
Longshore & Harbor Workers' Act: Title 33 U.S.C. § 914(j) does not entitle an
employer to a credit or offset against a widow's death benefits for the
overpayment of disability benefits erroneously awarded by an administrative
law judge.
www.admiraltylawguide.com/circt/5thcoopert.html
Francisco v. M/T Stolt Achievement
5th Circuit Court of Appeals
June 4, 2002
Jones Act/Arbitration: The district court properly ordered plaintiff foreign
seaman's personal injury claim to arbitration since plaintiff's employment
contract containing the arbitration provision was covered by the Convention
on the Recognition & Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, 9 U.S.C. §§
201-208, which does not contain an exclusion for seamen employment contracts
as does the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. §§ 1-16.
www.admiraltylawguide.com/circt/5thfrancisco.html
Sestich v. Long Beach Container Terminal
9th Circuit Court of Appeals
May 20, 2002
Longshore & Harbor Workers' Act: The claimant's "wage-earning capacity"
within the meaning of the Act is equal to his actual post-injury earnings,
and he is entitled to two-thirds of the difference between his "wage-earning
capacity" and his pre-injury "average weekly wages." Thus because claimant's
post-injury "wage-earning capacity" exceeded his pre-injury "average weekly
wages," the Board properly held that Claimant was not entitled to benefits.
www.admiraltylawguide.com/circt/9thsestich.pdf
Senator Line v. Sunway Line
2nd Circuit Court of Appeals
May 17, 2002
Carriage of Goods by Sea Act ("COGSA"): Where neither the carrier nor the
shippers had actual or constructive knowledge of the inherently dangerous
nature of shipped goods, 46 U.S.C. § 1304(6) imposes strict liability on the
shippers for damages & expenses arising from the shipment of those goods.
Thus where the carrier incurred damages arising from the spontaneous
combustion of a chemical cargo aboard its ship, the shippers were strictly
liable for those damages even if, prior to the shipment, they did not know &
could not have known that the chemical cargo was inherently dangerous.
www.admiraltylawguide.com/circt/2ndsenatorline.html
United States v. Angell
2nd Circuit Court of Appeals
May 16, 2002
Government Regulation: Defendant violated the Rivers & Harbors Appropriation
Act of 1899, 33 U.S.C. §§ 401 et seq., by adding 2 floats to his dock in the
Silver Brook Canal in Flanders, New York, without a permit from the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers ("Army Corps"). Defendant's argument that the canal was
not navigable at low tide & thus was not covered by the Act was to no avail
since the Army Corps' jurisdiction "extends to the line on the shore reached
by the plane of the mean (average) high water." 33 C.F.R. § 329.12(a)(2).
www.admiraltylawguide.com/circt/2ndusvangell.html
Schenker International (Australia) Pty Ltd v. Siemens Ltd
New South Wales Supreme Court
June 2002
CARRIAGE BY AIR: Operators contracting on the approved IATA form of air
waybill for carriage before the airport of departure, or after the airport of
arrival, have the right to limit their liability to US$20 per kilo for loss
or damage occurring outside the airport-to-airport segment of the journey.
www.onlinedmc.co.uk/schenkers_appeal.htm
Written from wire stories, the Associated Press, Reuters, Hong Kong Shipping News Lloyds & other world sources.
The Cargo Letter Correspondents:
Michael S. McDaniel, Esq., Editor
(Countryman & McDaniel).
Cameron W. Roberts, Esq. (Countryman & McDaniel)
Please click below for other sections:
Section A: Section: Trade, Financial & Inland News|
Section B: FF World Air News |
Section C: FF World Ocean News | Section
D: FF in Cyberspace |
Section E: The Forwarder Broker World
Written from wire stories, the Associated Press, Reuters, Hong Kong Shipping News Lloyds & other world sources.
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