BAHAMAS Law and Practice Contributed by: Richard Horton and Emma Van Wynen, Alexiou, Knowles & Co.
• Seaworthiness (before and at the beginning of the voyage): (a) properly manning, equipping and supplying the ship; and (b) making holds, refrigerating chambers and cargo spaces fit and safe. • Care of cargo: (a) properly and carefully loading, handling, stow - ing, carrying, keeping, caring for and discharg - ing the goods. A breach of these duties would result in prima facie liability, but a ship-owner may avoid liability by proving that the loss resulted from, for example: • act, neglect or default of the Master or crew in navigation or management of the ship; • perils of the sea; • fire (unless caused by actual fault or privity of the carrier); and • act of God, act of war, inherent vice, insufficiency of packing, etc. Under Article IV Rule 5 of the Hague Rules, liability is limited to GBP100 per package or unit, unless the nature and value of the goods were declared before shipment and inserted into the bill of lading. The ship-owner may also invoke global limitation as mentioned in 3.5 Procedure and Requirements for Under Bahamian law (specifically, Section 5 of the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1926), a carrier can establish a claim against a shipper for misdeclaration of cargo, and the statutory regime provides the legal basis for it. However, there is very limited reported Bahamian case law directly on this specific point. 4.5 Time Bar for Filing Claims for Damaged or Lost Cargo Paragraph 6 of Article III of the Hague Rules provides as follows: “Written notice should be given of any loss or damage to cargo at the time of delivery, unless the loss or dam- age is not apparent, in which case the notice should Establishing a Limitation Fund . 4.4 Misdeclaration of Cargo
be given within three days of delivery, failing which the receipt without such notice would be prima facie evi- dence of the goods being in the condition described in the bill of lading.” The written notice need not be given if the state of the goods has at the time of receipt been the subject of a joint survey or inspection. In any case the carrier and ship would be discharged from all liability for loss or damage unless proceed - ings are brought within one year after delivery of the goods (or the date when the goods should have been delivered). 5. Maritime Liens and Ship Arrests 5.1 Ship Arrests The Bahamas is a party to the International Conven - tion for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to the Arrest of Sea-Going Ships, 1952. Ship arrests in The Bahamas are covered by the fol - lowing domestic laws: • the Supreme Court Civil Procedure Rules 2022; • the Supreme Court Act 1996; • the Merchant Shipping Act 1976 (the Merchant Shipping Act 2021 has not yet come into force); and • case law (the common law) derived from The Baha - mas’ own courts, as well as the UK and other com - mon law jurisdictions. 5.2 Maritime Liens The Bahamas recognises the following maritime liens by way of statute: • wages and other sums due to the Master, officers and other members of the ship’s complement in respect of their employment on the ship; • port, canal and other waterway dues and pilotage dues, and any outstanding fees payable under the Merchant Shipping Act 1976 in respect of the ship; • claims against the owner in respect of loss of life or personal injury occurring, whether on land or on
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