Module Directory

The module follows the International Sale of Goods module LW603 with another key contract in international trade, the carriage contract.

It starts with a focus on bills of lading, a unique document in law carrying with it title rights to goods with the ability to sell goods in transit and the ability to transfer rights of suit under the contract of carriage. It then moves to charter parties, recognising the need of major international sellers to charter entire vessels for the transfer of cargo rather than 'booking space'.

The aims of this module are:

• To provide students with knowledge of the carriage contract and place that within the matrix of international shipment sales including the insurance and finance of international trade.


• To interpret domestic and international legislation relating to the international carriage of goods by sea.


• To consider the different types of standard contracts from BIMCO (the Baltic and International Maritime Council) both bills of lading, such as the Conline Bill 2000/2016 and charterparties such as Gencon 1994.


• To appraise and evaluate bills of lading and their unique functions in the international sale of goods carried by sea.


• To develop competent research skills so that students can describe and justify legal reasoning with the support of cases and scholarly work.

By the end of this module, students will be expected to be able to:

1. Demonstrate a systematic understanding of aspects concerning the different types of carriage contracts by sea.


2. Have a systematic understanding of the law covering carriage of goods by sea, including international conventions, national law and soft law.


3. Critically evaluate the role of ship industry stakeholders, such as BIMCO (the Baltic and International Maritime Council) in the regulation of carriage contracts.


4. Critically access and evaluate different types of standard contracts from BIMCO bills of lading, such as the Conline Bill 2000/2016 and charterparties such as Gencon 1994.


5. Comprehensively understand the different types of bills of lading and their unique functions, as well as their differences from other transport documents.


6. Gain practical knowledge of how carriage contracts are formed.


7. Deal with complex issues involving bills of lading, voyage charterparties and time charterparties.


8. Engage in critical thinking, developing strong research skills and justify their legal reasoning with the support of cases and scholarly work.

The primary goal of merchant ships is to make a profit for their owners, who can do so by renting out their vessel (with or without a crew) to other parties to make use of that ship for a period of time, or by a specific voyage, and finally by just renting a space on their vessel to different parties who wish to send cargo to the same destination (or one in the same route).

This course considers the basic obligations under a contract of carriage (implied and/ or established by international conventions) such as the shipowners’ obligation of seaworthiness, not to deviate and the charterer’s obligation to nominate a safe port. It does so, while also exploring standard clauses of voyage and time charterparties. Accordingly, students will be exposed to implied and expressed terms of carriage contracts, with international conventions such as the Hague and Hague-Visby Rules also scrutinized.

Furthermore, the course also explores in depth the characteristics of a bill of lading due to its undeniable importance to international trade, being this the most used transport document, being the most required under a letter of credit (for reasons that will be discussed during the course).

This module will be delivered via:

• 2 hour lectures weekly, which include workshops.