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15 J. Mar. L. & Com. 233 (1984)
A Comparison of COGSA, the Hague/Visby Rules, and the Hamburg Rules

handle is hein.journals/jmlc15 and id is 237 raw text is: I Journal of Maritime Law and Commerce, Vol. 15, No. 2, April, 1984 A Comparison of COGSA, the Hague/Visby Rules, and the Hamburg Rules* GEORGE F. CHANDLER III* Introduction The purpose of this article is to afford the reader an opportunity to compare similar sections of each of the three named sets of ocean cargo carriage rules. For this purpose the original sequence of the provisions of COGSAI and Hague/Visby2 has been preserved, while the Hamburg Rules have been rearranged to fit the sequence of the other two. COGSA has been used as a basis of comparison, rather than the Hague Rules on which it is based, since the Hague Rules as such are subordinate to COGSA in the United States, and any choice of law question presented to an American court would therefore be between COGSA and Hague/Visby (or between COGSA and the Hamburg Rules,3 if they ever come into force). * Member of the Bar of the State of New York, of the firm of Hill, Rivkins, Carry, Loesberg & O'Brien and of the Maritime Law Association of the United States. IThe United States Carriage of Goods by Sea Act (COGSA) has been in effect and unchanged since its enactment in 1936, a year before the International Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to Bills of Lading, adopted at Brussels in 1924 (known as the Hague Rules), was ratified by the United States. Ratification was subject to the understanding that in the event of a conflict between any provision of COGSA and the Convention, COGSA would prevail. 2 The 1968 Protocol amending the 1924 Bills of Lading Convention. The Protocol entered into force June 23, 1977, but has not been ratified by the United States. However, it may be applied by United States courts, to the extent it is not in conflict with COGSA, when a Hague/ Visby contracting State is involved, or when the Protocol is incorporated by reference in the bill of lading or other contract of carriage. 3 The United Nations Convention on the Carriage of Goods by Sea, adopted at Hamburg in 1978, but not in force. As of early 1984 only nine States had ratified or adhered to it, and by its terms it will not enter into force until one year after the deposit of the instrument of ratification or adherence by the twentieth State. It is not possible to predict when this will happen, if ever, or whether the Convention will ever be effective in the United States. 233

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