| Award 1211

Award 1211 – Rice in bags under B/L – Damages to cargo – Letter of undertaking – Subrogated underwriters – French Law – General Paramount clause – FIO clause (not applicable) – Carrier’s liability (yes). The subrogated underwriters requested that the carrier be condemned to pay them the indemnity that they paid to the receiver while the defendant relied on the FIO clause of the charter-party and, in respect of the damages established after discharge, the General Paramount clause included in the B/Ls. The Arbitral Tribunal pointed out that the B/Ls did not mention the FIO terms and the carrier did not produce proof of the receiver’s explicit acceptance of this clause, nor of the General Paramount clause. As the French law of 18th June 1966 opposed the possibility of relieving the carrier of his responsibility for the loading and discharging operations, the Tribunal could only decide upon the carrier’s liability for cargo damages.