The Charges
The Plaintiffs sued the Defendant, operators of the vessel KOTA MANIS for a quantity of 466 bags of rice which became mouldy on the voyage from Karachi in Pakistan to Tema, Ghana.
Awarded
The Plaintiffs sued the Defendant, operators of the vessel KOTA MANIS for a quantity of 466 bags of rice which became mouldy on the voyage from Karachi in Pakistan to Tema, Ghana. The Plaintiffs’ action was commenced about 6 years after the event. The transaction was covered by a Bill of Lading which had a one-year limitation period after which no action could be brought against the Defendant for the kind of loss complained of. The Defendant pleaded this limitation period and The Hague Rules which also provided a one-year time bar. The High Court(Commercial Division) held that by the application of the Bill of Lading Act, 1961(Act 42) which incorporated The Hague rules, the Plaintiffs’ failure to commence legal action to ventilate its grievances within a year extinguished its right to mount this action.