Auckand heads to supreme court

The action follows a case brought by Southpac Trucks when a forklift operated by a Ports of Auckland employee accidentally collided with one of its trucks being discharged from a vessel by a port company subcontractor.

Ports of Auckland admitted negligence, but claimed that any liability it had was limited to the $1,500-per-unit regime for “carriers” afforded under the Carriage of Goods Act (COGA).

However, in a judgement delivered at the end of December last year, the Court of Appeal found the High Court had been “incorrect” in holding:

• that Ports of Auckland could avail itself of the statutory exemption from liability conferred by Section Six of the COGA;
• and that the operator of the forklift was exempt from liability under Section 16 (2) of the Act, with the consequence that Ports of Auckland could not be vicariously.

P&I Services’ Alistair Irving, who is representing Ports of Auckland’s indemnifiers the TT Club, says the decision raised “significant” issues for the wider freight community.

“We thought that we knew what the law was before this case — the Act has been in place since 1980 and this issue has never been in question really until this case,” he says.

“All carriers and all insurers of cargo who were bringing claims against carriers, had the view that it was quite clear – if you were a carrier you were entitled to limit your liability.”