Liability of Multimodal Transport Carriers for Delay in Delivery of Goods – The Impact of Suez Canal Blockage

Abstract

This paper considers if multimodal-transport carriers (hereafter MTCs) will be liable for late delivery of goods in a hypothetical scenario which is impacted by the Suez Canal blockage under the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Multimodal Transport (AFAMT), and other international legal instruments such as the United Nations Convention on International Multimodal Transport 1980 (MT Convention), United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Carriage of Goods Wholly or Partly by Sea (Rotterdam Rules), the UNCTAD/ICC Rules for multimodal transport documents (UNCTAD/ICC Rules 1992). Furthermore, this paper will explore which legal instruments among the four instruments provide fairer liability rules for both the MTC and cargo owner in the hypothetical case.