The "Helene."
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Judgment Date | 20 June 1866 |
| Date | 20 June 1866 |
| Court | Privy Council |
English Reports Citation: 16 E.R. 242
ON APPEAL FROM THE HIGH COURT OF ADMIRALTY.
Mews' Dig. tit. Shipping, XII. Bill of Lading, 4. Exemptions from Liability, f. Other exceptions-Where gross negligence-Onus of proof, 5. Indorsement, Assignment and Transfer, a. Generally; XV. Cargo, 6. Stowage, b. Duty of Master and Owners. S.C. L.R. 1 P.C. 231; 35 L.J. P.C. 63; 12 Jur. (N.S.) 675; 14 L.T. 873; 15 W.R. 202; Br. and Lush. 429. On point (i.) as to Limitation of Liability, see Czech v. General Steam Navigation Co., 1867, L.R. 3 C.P. 17; (ii.) as to position of indorsees of Bill of Lading, see Leiduc v. Ward, 1888, 20 Q.B.D. 480; (iii.) as to Stowage, Blaikie v. Stembridge, 1859, 6 C.B. (N.S.) 894; The Catherine Chalmers, 1874, 32 L.T. 847; Sack, v. Ford, 1862, 32 L.J. C.P. 12; Sandeman v. Scurr, 1866, L.R. 22 B. 86; and Carver, Carriage by Sea, 3rd Edit., sect. 274, et seq. By sec. 18 of the Judicature Act, 1873 (36 and 37 Vict., c. 66), and s. 4 (3) of the Judicature Act, 1891 (54 and 55 Vict., c. 53), the jurisdiction of the Judicial Committee upon any judgment or order of the High Court of Admiralty was, except as to Prize, transferred to the Court of Appeal.
[70] ON APPEAL FROM THE HIGH COURT OF ADMIRALTY. EDWARD WILLIAM OHRLOFF and Others -Appellants; THOMAS BRISCALL and Others,-Respondents * [June 13, 14, 15, and 20, 1866]. the " helene." Under a charter-party the shippers put a cargo, consisting of casks of oil, wool, and rags, on board the chartered vessel, and personally superintended the stowage of the cargo in the hold of the vessel. In the margin of the Bill of lading of the casks of oil there was this memorandum, " weight, measurement, and contents unknown, and not accountable for leakage." The Bill of lading was indorsed in blank by the shippers and assigned to B. and Co. In the course of the voyage the oil casks became heated by the action and contiguity of the wool and rags, and a very large portion, of the oil was lost:- * This appeal was argued twice, first on the 13th, 14th, and 15th of June, 1866, before the Lord Justice Knight Bruce, the Lord Justice Turner, and Sir Edward Vaughan Williams; and secondly, on the 20th of June, before Lord Chelmsford, the Lord Justice Knight Bruce, the Lord Justice Turner, Sir John Taylor Coleridge, and Sir Edward Vaughan Williams. 242 OHRLOFF V. BRISCALL HELENE (THE) [1866] IV MOORE N.S., 71 Held, in an action against the ship under the provisions of the Admiralty Act, 1861, for damages occasioned by the shipowners' negligence: First, that ignorance of the shipowners as to the latent effect of heat in storing the casks of oil with wool and rags, did not, in the circumstances of the shippers superintending the stowage, amount to such negligence as to make them liable to the holders of the Bill of lading for the loss occasioned by the leakage of the oil [4 Moo. P.C. (N.S.) 81]; and, Secondly, that the limitation of liability by the memorandum in the Bill of lading, that the shipowners were not to be accountable for leakage, was not restricted as to the quantity of leakage, and protected the shipowners, in the absence of proof that the leakage was occasioned by their negligence [4 Moo. P.C. (N.S.) 83]. Whether the conduct of the shippers as to the stowage, was not such as by the Bills of Lading Act, 18th and 19j,h Viet., c. Ill, would support a plea of leave and license in an action by the indorsees of the Bill of lading, quaere [4 Moo. P.C. (N.S.) 83]. This was a suit instituted in the High Court of Admiralty, under the provisions of section 6 of the 24th Viet., c. 10, the Admiralty Court Act of 1861, by the Respondents, the owners and assignees of the Bills of lading of forty-seven casks of olive oil, proceeding in rem. against the Helens, a Foreign ship, in which the casks of oil had been carried from Leghorn to Liverpool, and also against the Appellant, OhrloS, a subject of Prussia, the Master, and others [71] the owners of the Helene, intervening, to recover damages for loss incurred by the leakage of the oil on the voyage, occasioned, as alleged by the Respondents, by the negligence, and breaches of contract, and duty of the Appellants. The principal facts, as appeared from the evidence, were as follows : - By a charter-party, dated the 16th of July, 1864, entered into by the Master of the Helene, then lying at the port of Leghorn, with the firm of Lloyd and Co., of the same place, Merchants and shippers of oil, it was stipulated that the ship was to proceed with a cargo of goods to London or Liverpool, at the charterer's option, and to deliver the same agreeably to Bills of lading on being paid 285 in a lump-sum. Under this charter-party, Lloyd and Co. loaded the vessel with various goods, consisting of rags and wool, and forty-seven casks of olive oil; for the latter goods the Master of the ship gave a Bill of lading in the usual form, and on which was this memorandum: " Weight, measurement, and contents unknown, and not account able for leakage." The Bill of lading was indorsed in blank by the shippers, and assigned to the Respondents, who became the owners of the forty-seven casks of oil. Lloyd and Co., under the charter-party, appointed one [72] Tilo Mirandohe, the regular Stevedore of ships at Leghorn, to superintend the stowage of the ship, who superintended the stowage of the cargo, and certified that he had paid particular attention, and taken every...
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The "Helene."
...English Reports Citation: 167 E.R. 434 HIGH COURT OF ADMIRALTYThe "Helene." S. C. 4 Moore, P. C (N. S) 70; 16 E. R. 242; L R 1 P. C. 231, 35 L. J. P. C. 63, 12 Jur. (N. S) 675, 14 L T 873, 15 W. R. 202. Distinguished, the "Figlia Maggrore," 1868, L. R 2 Ad & Ecc. 106. Referred to, Czech v G......