When is a bill of lading silent as to the time the consignee must discharge the ship’s cargo?

Saskatchewan, Canada


The following excerpt is from Heshka and Heshka v. Gorham Holdings Ltd., 1980 CanLII 2342 (SKDC):

In Rick v. Raymond & Reid, [1893] A.C. 22, the bill of lading was silent as to the time within which the consignee was to discharge the ship’s cargo. The court held that the consignee performed his obligation within a time which was reasonable under the existing circumstances, assuming that those circumstances, in so far as they involve delay, were not caused or contributed to him. Lord Herschell, L.C., at p. 29 stated: I would observe, in the first place, that there is of course no such thing as a reasonable time in the abstract. It must always depend upon circumstances. Upon ‘the ordinary circumstances’ say the learned counsel for the appellant. But what may without impropriety be termed the ordinary circumstances differ in particular ports at different times of the year. As regards the practicability of discharging a vessel they may differ in summer and winter. Again, weather increasing the difficulty of, though not preventing, the discharge of a vessel may continue for so long a period that it may justly be termed extraordinary ... It appears to me that the appellant’s contention would involve constant difficulty and dispute and that the only sound principle is that the ‘reasonable time ‘ should depend on the circumstances which actually exist. If the cargo has been taken with all reasonable despatch under those circumstances I think the obligation of the consignee has been fulfilled. When I say the circumstances which actually exist, I, of course, imply that those circumstances, in so far as they involve delay, have not been caused or contributed to by the consignee. (emphasis added)

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