The liability of the international multimodal transport operator for loss of or damage to the goods carried under a multimodal transport contract

Multomodal transport of goods has increasingly developed from about three decades ago when container transport system came into existence. At the present time there is no operative convention to govern different legal aspects of the international multimodal transport of goods contracts including the multimodal transport operator's (MTO's) liability for loss of or damage to the goods.

This thesis, therefore, attempts to consider the MTO's liability for loss of or damage to goods carried under a multimodal transport contract at the present time and in the future when the 1980 United Nations Multimodal Transport of Goods Convention comes into force. Since multimodal transport operations are mainly fulfilled through the use of containers, the MTO's liability is necessarily, therefore, considered in relation to the problem caused by container transport, i.e. the container-package problem, so that a special attention is given to that problem. To shed light on the container-package problem it was thought that the best way is to consider the courts' views in some countries which have a significant role in maritime and container transportation such as the U.S.A. and the U.K.

Chapter one of this thesis deals with definition, history, aim and importance of multimodal transport of goods. The MTO's liability for loss of or damage to the goods at the present time has been considered in chapters two, three and four. Chapter five deals with some problems which can be particularly posed in relation to multimodal transport contracts. The MTO's liability for loss of or damage to the goods under the 1980 U.N. Multimodal Transport Convention is dealt with in chapter six. Chapter seven makes a comparison between the MTO's liability for loss or damage to the goods at the present time and when the 1980 U.N. Convention comes into force. This is followed by a conclusion at the end.