Carriage of Goods by Sea Act, 1925

The Carriage of Goods by Sea Act, 1925 governs the legal responsibilities of shipping companies ("carriers") when goods are transported by sea to or from a port in Pakistan (Section 2). It was passed to bring Pakistan's law in line with an international agreement reached in Brussels in the 1920s aimed at standardising the rules printed on bills of lading (the shipping document that also acts as a receipt and contract of carriage).

Section 3 makes clear that a carrier is not automatically guaranteeing the ship is seaworthy just by entering into a shipping contract. Section 4 requires every bill of lading issued in Pakistan to state that it is subject to the "Rules" set out in the Act's Schedule. Sections 5 and 6 make small technical adjustments to those Rules for sailing ships and for bulk cargo where weight is certified by an independent third party.

The real substance of the Act is in the Schedule (the "Hague Rules"). Article III sets out the carrier's core duties: making the ship seaworthy before the voyage, properly loading and caring for the cargo, and issuing a bill of lading describing the goods. Article IV lists situations where the carrier is NOT liable for loss or damage -- for example, crew navigation errors, fire (unless due to the carrier's own fault), perils of the sea, acts of war, strikes, and inherent defects in the goods themselves. It also caps the carrier's liability at a stated amount "per package or unit" unless the shipper declares a higher value in the bill of lading, and requires any claim for loss or damage to be brought within one year of delivery.

Because this Act dates from 1925 and has been amended by adaptation orders (references to "Pakistan" replacing earlier colonial-era wording, per the footnotes), readers relying on specific figures such as the per-package liability limit should check the current official text, since these monetary limits are unlikely to reflect present-day values.