Time bars in marine cargo claims: notice, suit and extensions

General information, not legal advice. The time bar in a given claim depends on the applicable regime, the terms of the contract of carriage, the forum and the governing law. Confirm the time bar for each claim against the contract and, where needed, with counsel.

What a time bar is

A time bar is a period after which a claim can no longer be enforced. Cargo claims usually involve two separate limits that are easy to confuse. The first is the notice of loss or damage: a written notice to the carrier at delivery or shortly after it. The second is the time for suit: the period within which legal proceedings must be started against the carrier, in the right forum.

The two have different consequences. Under the Hague and Hague-Visby Rules, a missed notice does not end the claim. It means that the removal of the goods is prima facie evidence that the carrier delivered them as described in the Bill of Lading, so the claimant has more to prove. A missed time for suit is a different matter: under Article III rule 6 the carrier and the ship are discharged from all liability in respect of the goods.

Why it matters for recovery and subrogation

A cargo insurer that pays a claim normally steps into the rights of its assured through subrogation and pursues a Recovery against the carrier. The time for suit runs from delivery of the goods, not from the date the insurer pays. A claim that takes months to adjust can leave little time for the recovery action. Once the time bar has expired, the recovery is usually lost, however clear the evidence of the carrier's liability.

The same applies to adjusters, correspondents and agents who handle the file before it reaches the insurer: they need to know the date, who confirmed it and what it rests on.

The Hague and Hague-Visby Rules

Many bills of lading in international trade are subject to the Hague Rules (1924) or the Hague-Visby Rules (the Hague Rules as amended by the 1968 and 1979 Protocols), either by national legislation or through a clause paramount. Article III rule 6 sets both limits.

• Notice: written notice of the loss or damage and its general nature, given to the carrier or its agent at the port of discharge before or at the time the goods are removed into the custody of the person entitled to delivery. If the loss or damage is not apparent, within three days. No written notice is needed if the state of the goods was the subject of a joint survey or inspection at the time of receipt.
• Suit: the carrier and the ship are discharged from all liability unless suit is brought within one year of delivery of the goods, or of the date when they should have been delivered.
• Extension (Hague-Visby): the one-year period may be extended if the parties so agree after the cause of action has arisen.
• Indemnity actions (Hague-Visby, Article III rule 6bis): an action for indemnity against a third person may be brought after the year has expired, within the time allowed by the law of the court seized. That time must be not less than three months from the day the person bringing the action settled the claim or was served with process in the action against itself.

Rule 6bis is mainly relevant to a party that has itself been sued and seeks recourse further along the chain of contracts. Whether it applies to a particular recourse claim depends on the contracts and on the law of the forum. The cargo interest's own claim against the carrier stays subject to the one-year period.

The same rule requires carrier and receiver to give each other all reasonable facilities for inspecting and tallying the goods where loss or damage is actual or apprehended.

The Hamburg Rules

The Hamburg Rules (1978) have been in force since 1 November 1992 for the states that are party to them. They apply to contracts with a defined link to a contracting state, for example where the port of loading or the port of discharge is in one.

• Notice (Article 19): written notice not later than the working day after the goods were handed over to the consignee. If the loss or damage is not apparent, within 15 consecutive days. For delay, written notice within 60 consecutive days, otherwise no compensation for delay is payable.
• Suit (Article 20): judicial or arbitral proceedings within two years. The period starts on the day the carrier delivered the goods or part of them or, where no goods were delivered, on the last day on which they should have been delivered.
• Extension: the person against whom the claim is made may, at any time while the period runs, extend it by a declaration in writing to the claimant. It may be extended again by further declarations.
• Indemnity actions: within the time allowed by the law of the state where proceedings are brought, and not less than 90 days from settlement of the claim or service of process.

The Rotterdam Rules

The Rotterdam Rules (2008) set a two-year period for judicial or arbitral proceedings (Article 62). It starts on the day the carrier delivered the goods, and that first day is not counted. Notice of loss or damage that is not apparent is due within seven working days at the place of delivery (Article 23), and notice of delay within 21 consecutive days. The period cannot be suspended or interrupted, but the person against whom the claim is made can extend it by declaration, more than once (Article 63).

The convention is not in force. It needs 20 ratifications or accessions, and the UNCITRAL status page lists far fewer. It is included for completeness.

The regimes side by side

The table summarises the convention texts. Contract terms, national law and the forum can change any of these periods.

What changes the picture

• The contract. A Bill of Lading can incorporate a regime through a clause paramount, and a charterparty can incorporate one into the charter. Charterparty terms, including arbitration clauses, can add their own time limits and procedural steps.
• National law. Many states give effect to the conventions through their own legislation, sometimes with changes, and apply their own periods to carriage outside the conventions.
• Jurisdiction and forum. Proceedings must be started in the forum the contract provides for. Proceedings started in the wrong court, or against the wrong party, may not protect the claim.
• The identity of the carrier. The party to be sued is the contractual carrier, which is not always the shipowner. The Bill of Lading terms matter here.
• Counting the days. Whether the first day counts, and what happens when the last day falls on a weekend or public holiday, depends on the regime and the applicable law.

What starts the clock

In all four regimes the time for suit runs from delivery of the goods, or from the date they should have been delivered where they were not delivered. Delivery is a question of fact and law, and not always the day the vessel completed discharge, for example with goods held at a terminal before collection. Record the facts and their source, then confirm the date.

Documents that usually show the relevant dates:

• Outturn report and tally records: completion of discharge, and the quantity and condition at outturn, including any Shortage.
• Delivery receipt, delivery order and terminal release records: when the goods passed to the receiver.
• Statement of Facts: the timeline at the discharge port, including commencement and completion of discharge. On how it compares with the vessel's own record, see Statement of Facts vs Deck Log.
• Notice of Claim and any letter of protest: when notice was given, and to whom.
• Survey Report: whether there was a joint survey, and the condition found, for example Wet Damage.
• Bill of Lading: the regime (clause paramount), the forum and the identity of the carrier.

For the wider set of documents in a cargo claim, see the documents of a marine cargo claim.

Extensions in practice

When settlement talks outlast the time for suit, the claimant usually asks the carrier, or its P&I club, for an extension instead of starting proceedings. Points to check:

1. Ask for the extension in writing, well before the period expires.
2. Make sure it is granted in writing, by or on behalf of the party you would sue, and that its scope is clear: vessel, voyage, Bill of Lading numbers, cargo and claimant.
3. Note any conditions attached, for example a requirement to bring proceedings in a particular forum.
4. Record the new expiry date as the extension states it, not as calculated from the old date.
5. Ask for any further extension in good time before the new date. An ongoing discussion is not an extension.

Under the Hague-Visby Rules the agreement must be made after the cause of action has arisen. Under the Hamburg and Rotterdam Rules the extension is a declaration by the person against whom the claim is made. Whether an extension is effective under a given law is a legal question.

One confirmed date per claim

A practical risk is a file with two dates in it, or an extension letter that never reached it.

• Keep one confirmed time bar date per claim, with the regime, the delivery date, the source documents and the name of the person who confirmed it.
• When an extension is granted, replace the date, attach the extension letter as its source and keep the earlier dates in the history.
• Set reminders at several points before the date, and make one person responsible for acting on them.
• When the file moves to another handler, or from adjuster to insurer, pass on the confirmed date with its source.

An invented example: in claim 26-0417, the MV Corvina discharged soybean meal at Ravenna and the receivers found wet damage. The handler reads the clause paramount in the Bill of Lading, takes the delivery date from the delivery receipt and the outturn report, checks it against the Statement of Facts and records the time bar as 13 Mar 2027, confirmed by the handler, with those documents as its source. If the carrier's club later grants an extension, the extension letter becomes the new source and the new date replaces the old one.

Dossima is claim file software in development for marine claims professionals. It keeps the documents of a claim in one file and tracks the time bars you confirm, with the source behind each date. The decision on the date stays with you.

Sources

Public sources this guide relies on. Check the current text before you rely on a rule.

• Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1971, Schedule: the Hague-Visby Rules (legislation.gov.uk)
• UNCITRAL: United Nations Convention on the Carriage of Goods by Sea, 1978 (Hamburg Rules), text
• UNCITRAL: Hamburg Rules, status
• UNCITRAL: Rotterdam Rules (2008), text
• UNCITRAL: Rotterdam Rules, status

More guides

• Marine cargo claim documents: the checklist
• Statement of facts vs deck log: when the records disagree
• Hull and machinery claim documents: the checklist