7/26/2019 TRANSPO 70A Asian Terminals Inc vs Philam Insurance Co Inc

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70-A Asian Terminals, Inc. vs. Philam

Insurance Co., Inc.

Cargoes while being unloaded generally remainunder the custody of the carrier.

Since the damage to the cargo was incurred

during the discharge of the shipment and whileunder the supervision of the carrier, the latter is

liable for the damage caused to the cargo.

Westwind = carrier

ATI = arrastre

Nichimen = sellerUniversal Motors = buyer

Facts

Nichimen Corporation shipped to Universal MotorsCorporation (Universal Motors !"# pac$a%es

containin% "!& units o' brand new Nissan ic$upTruc$ )ouble Cab *+! model, without en%ine,

tires and batteries, on board the vessel -.-

Calayan Iris'rom /apan to Manila0

The shipment was unloaded by the sta'' o' ATI, itwas 'ound that the pac$a%e mar$ed as &12!*32*!4." was in bad order0 It identi'ied twopac$a%es, labeled &12!*32*!4." and&1.!15.5C4.!, as bein% dented and bro$en0 Itcontainedsix Chassis Frame Assembly0

The car%oes were stored 'or temporary

sa'e$eepin% inside CF- Warehouse0 The shipmentwas withdrawn by 60F0 6evilla Customs 7ro$era%e,Inc0, the authori8ed bro$er o' Universal Motors,

and delivered to the latters warehouse in

Mandaluyon% City0

A bad order survey was conducted on the car%oesand it was 'ound that one Frame Axle Subwithout !"was deeply dented on the bu''leplate while si+ Frame 7ush were de'ormed andmisali%ned0 9win% to the e+tent o' the dama%e tosaid car%oes, Universal Motors declared them atotal loss0 Universal Motors 'iled a 'ormal claim 'ordama%es

IssueWhat is the e+tend o' the liability o' Westwind andATI:

;eldThey are concurrently liable0 ;owever, ATI and

Westwinds liability should be con'ined to the

value o' the one piece Frame A+le -ub without3 states? -ection"0 That the provisions

o' ublic Act Numbered Five hundred and twenty2one o' the -eventy2 'ourth Con%ress o' the United

-tates, approved on April si+teenth, nineteenhundred and thirty2si+, be accepted, as it is

hereby accepted to be made applicable to allcontracts 'or the carria%e o' %oods by sea to and

'rom hilippine ports in 'orei%n trade? Provided,That nothin% in the Act shall be construed as

repealin% any e+istin% provision o' the Code o'Commerce which is now in 'orce, or as limitin% its

application0

A letter o' credit is a 'inancial device developed bymerchants as a convenient and relatively sa'emode o' dealin% with sales o' %oods to satis'y theseemin%ly irreconcilable interests o' a seller, whore'uses to part with his %oods be'ore he is paid,and a buyer, who wants to have control o' his%oods be'ore payin%0 ;owever, letters o' creditare employed by the parties desirin% to enter intocommercial transactions, not 'or the bene'it o' theissuin% ban$ but mainly 'or the bene'it o' theparties to the ori%inal transaction, in these cases,Nichimen Corporation as the seller and UniversalMotors as the buyer0 ;ence, the latter, as thebuyer o' the Nissan C4) parts, should bere%arded as the person entitled to delivery o' the%oods0 Accordin%ly, 'or purposes o' rec$onin%when notice o' loss or dama%e should be %iven tothe carrier or its a%ent, the date o' delivery toUniversal Motors is controllin%0

Common carriers, 'rom the nature o' theirbusiness and 'or reasons o' public policy, arebound to observe e+traordinary dili%ence in thevi%ilance over the %oods transported by them0-ub@ect to certain e+ceptions enumerated underArticle "51* o' the Civil Code, common carriersare responsible 'or the loss, destruction, ordeterioration o' the %oods0 The e+traordinaryresponsibility o' the common carrier lasts 'romthe time the %oods are unconditionally placed inthe possession o', and received by the carrier 'ortransportation until the same are delivered,

actually or constructively, by the carrier to theconsi%nee, or to the person who has a ri%ht toreceive them0

Cargoes while being unloaded generally remainunder the custody of the carrier.The )ama%e-urvey 6eport o' the survey conducted by hil0Navtech -ervices, Inc0 reveals that Case No0 &12!*32*!4." was dama%ed by ATI stevedores dueto overti%htenin% o' a cable slin% hold durin%

dischar%e 'rom the vessels hatch to the pier0

Since the damage to the cargo was incurredduring the discharge of the shipment and while

under the supervision of the carrier, the latter isliable for the damage caused to the cargo.

7/26/2019 TRANSPO 70A Asian Terminals Inc vs Philam Insurance Co Inc

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The 'unctions o' an arrastre operator involve the

handlin% o' car%o deposited on the whar' orbetween the establishment o' the consi%nee or

shipper and the ships tac$le0Being the custodian

of the goods discharged from a vessel, an

arrastre operators duty is to take good care of

the goods and to turn them over to the party

entitled to their possession.;andlin% car%o ismainly the arrastre operators principal wor$ so its

drivers.operators or employees should observe

the standards and measures necessary to preventlosses and dama%e to shipments under its

custody0 While it is true that an arrastre operatorand a carrier may not be held solidarily liable at

all times, the 'acts o' these cases show that apart

'rom ATIs stevedores bein% directly in char%e o'

the physical unloadin% o' the car%o, its 'oreman

pic$ed the cable slin% that was used to hoist thepac$a%es 'or trans'er to the doc$0 The 'act that

!" o' the !"# pac$a%es were unloaded with thesame slin% unharmed is tellin% o' the inadeBuate

care with which ATIs stevedore handled and

dischar%ed the container0