The law on carriage of goods by sea is concerned with the transportation of the goods from the shipping port to the port of destination within the context of either a fob or cif contract. There are various ways in which the party responsible for shipping of goods may perform his obligations. The seller may charter (hire) the vessel under a Charterparty or may book shipping space without chartering the entire vessel. The seller may also employ the services of a freight forwarder or a combined transport operator, particularly when the goods are to be transported in containers. In case of carriage on a general ship, the goods will be shipped with consignments from other shippers on the same vessel and there will be no charterparty between the seller-shipper and the ship owner. The ship owner, who is both the legal and actual carrier of the goods would issue the seller-shipper with a shipped bill of lading covering his goods only once the goods have been shipped. Such a bill of lading serves three purposes. Firstly, the bill of lading is a receipt of the goods. Secondly, it is a document of title to the goods and thirdly, it proves the contract of carriage between the shipowner and the seller- shipper. At common law, the buyer was unable to sue the carrier for breach of the contract of carriage in respect of the loss or damage to his goods. The Bill of Lading Act, 1855 was enacted to deal with this problem which made provisions in favour of the consignee or indorsee of the bill of lading but raised certain peculiar problems which had to be simplified by the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act, 1992.
