Amidst the discharge of an oil cargo in Israel, contamination by foreign agents was revealed, thereby depreciating its value. The cargo owners contended that the maritime carrier is liable for such contamination, predicated upon the clean pre-loading laboratory reports and the clean bill of lading, wherein the carrier confirmed the cargo is “in apparent good order and condition”.
The Court held that the carrier is liable for the damage due to the absence of an express reservation, by the it on the bill of lading. The international Hague-Visby Rules, which were incorporated into Israeli law, stipulate that a bill of lading issued by a maritime carrier constitutes prima facie evidence of the receipt of the goods as described therein. While the carrier may insert reservations concerning details not within its knowledge, a broad, sweeping reservation cannot discharge it from liability. Here, the carrier stated the cargo appeared to be in good order but disclaimed knowledge of its quality. Notwithstanding the above, the presence of particles visible to the naked eye is not a matter of the oil’s quality, but rather indicates that the oil was not in apparent good order. Hence, the reservation regarding the cargo’s 'apparent' condition is not sufficiently explicit to indicate that the cargo was delivered to the vessel containing such particles and the liability is on the carrier.