항해용선계약상 F.I.O.조건 판결사례연구 - The Jordan Ⅱ사건에서 영국 최고법원 판결을 중심으로

A Case Study on F.I.O. Term under a Voyage Charter -Focused on U.K. House of Lords" Decision in The Jordan Ⅱ-

  F.I.O.term under a voyage charter obliges the charterers/shippers/receivers, rather than the shipowners, to control and pay for certain cargo handling operations. This term raises a difficult problem as to whether the shipowners are responsible for damage to the cargo being loaded or discharged. In other words, while F.I.O.term is clearly valid under a voyage charter, its validity under a bill of lading remains controversial. It can be argued that F.I.O.term would be contrary to Article Ⅲ(2) of the Hague-Visby Rules and therefore is invalidated by Article Ⅲ(8) of the same Rules. In United Kingdom who is leading player in the field of maritime law, the House of Lords in the Jordan Ⅱ now reaffirmed that the cargo interests and the carrier are free to reallocate the responsibility for these cargo handling operations, without being invalidated by Article Ⅲ(8) of the Hague-Visby Rules. The purpose of this study is to analyse the House of Lords" reasoninging in the Jordan Ⅱ and also comment on their approach to interpret the Hague-Visby Rules.