Abstract
This LL.M. thesis examines the legal relationship between bills of lading and charterparties under United States maritime law. It begins with an overview of the history of maritime law and common legal documents governing maritime transportation, then traces the development of admiralty jurisprudence from early commercial codes through modern federal statutes, including the Harter Act, the Pomerene Act, and the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act (COGSA). The work analyzes which document controls contracts of affreightment when the bill of lading is held by the charterer, a sub-charterer, a shipper other than the charterer, or a third-party consignee, and examines which party qualifies as the carrier when a vessel is under a charterparty agreement. The thesis concludes that the controlling document varies by transaction, depending on whether the carrier is a common or private carrier, whether charterparty terms are incorporated into the bill of lading, and the identity of the contracting parties — and urges maritime nations to adopt the Hamburg Rules' definition of "carrier" while recommending that shippers explicitly allocate cargo responsibility in their bills of lading.
Repository Citation
Kannanthanam, Mammen G., "Bill of Lading Under Charter Parties" (1991). LLM Theses and Essays. 342.
https://digitalcommons.law.uga.edu/stu_llm/342