Sea-Carriage Documents Act 1998 (SA)

South Australia Sea-Carriage Documents Act 1998 An Act to reform the law relating to bills of lading, sea waybills and ships' delivery orders.

Contents Part 1—Preliminary 1 Short title 3 Application 4 Interpretation 5 Electronic and computerised sea-carriage documents 6 Application where goods have ceased to exist, or cannot be identified Part 2—Rights under contracts of carriage 7 Transfer of rights 8 Extinguishment of previous rights Part 3—Liabilities under contracts of carriage 9 Transfer of liabilities 10 Liability of original parties Part 4—Evidence 11 Shipment under bills of lading Legislative history

The Parliament of South Australia enacts as follows: Part 1—Preliminary 1—Short title This Act may be cited as the Sea-Carriage Documents Act 1998. 3—Application This Act applies only in relation to sea-carriage documents coming into existence on or after the date of commencement of this section. 4—Interpretation In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears— bill of lading means a bill of lading (including a received for shipment bill of lading) which is capable of transfer— (a) by endorsement; or (b) as a bearer bill, by delivery without endorsement; contract of carriage, in relation to a sea-carriage document, means— (a) in the case of a bill of lading or a sea waybill—the contract of carriage contained in, or evidenced by, the document; or (b) in the case of a ship's delivery order—the contract of carriage in association with which the order is given; data message means information generated, stored or communicated by electronic, optical or analogous means including, but not limited to, electronic data interchange, electronic mail, telegram, telex and telecopy; goods, in relation to a sea-carriage document, means the goods to which the document relates; identification, in relation to the identification of a person in a sea-carriage document, includes the identification of the person by a description which allows for the person's identity to be varied, in accordance with the document, after its issue; lawful holder, in relation to a bill of lading, means a person who— (a) has come into possession of the bill, in good faith, as the consignee of the goods, by virtue of being identified in the bill; or (b) has come into possession of the bill, in good faith, as a result of the completion, by delivery of the bill— (i) of any endorsement of the bill; or (ii) in the case of a bearer bill—of any other transfer of the bill; or (c) would be the lawful holder of the bill under paragraph (a) or (b) had not the person come into possession of the bill as the result of a transaction effected at a time when possession of the bill no longer gave a right (as against the carrier) to possession of the goods; sea-carriage document means a bill of lading, a sea waybill or a ship's delivery order; sea waybill means a document other than a bill of lading which— (a) is issued by the carrier of the goods; and (b) is a receipt for the goods; and (c) contains or evidences a contract for the carriage of the goods by sea; and (d) identifies the person to whom delivery of the goods is to be made by the carrier in accordance with the contract; ship's delivery order means a document other than a bill of lading or a sea waybill which— (a) is given in association with a contract for the carriage of goods by sea including those to which the document relates; and (b) contains an undertaking by the carrier to deliver the goods to which the document relates to a person identified in the document. 5—Electronic and computerised sea-carriage documents (1) Subject to this section, this Act applies— (a) in relation to a sea-carriage document in the form of a data message—in the same way as it applies in relation to a written sea-carriage document; and (b) in relation to the communication of a sea-carriage document by means of a data message—in the same way as it applies in relation to the communication of a sea-carriage document by other means. (2) This Act applies under subsection (1) with necessary changes and in accordance with procedures agreed between the parties to the contract of carriage. (3) Without limiting the generality of subsection (2), in this Act, in the application of the following terms to a sea-carriage document in the form of a data message, or to the communication of a sea-carriage document by means of a data message— delivery includes any form of communication which constitutes delivery under the terms of the contract of carriage; endorsement includes any form of authorisation which constitutes endorsement under the terms of the contract of carriage; possession, in relation to the document, includes being in receipt of the document in any manner which constitutes possession under the terms of the contract of carriage; signed includes authenticated in any manner which constitutes signing under the terms of the contract of carriage. 6—Application where goods have ceased to exist, or cannot be identified Without prejudice to the operation of section 7(4) or section 11, nothing in this Act precludes its operation in relation to a sea-carriage document where the goods— (a) cease to exist after the issue of the document; or (b) cannot be identified (whether because they are mixed with other goods, or for any other reason).