Dear valued clients, colleagues and friends,

In July 2021 the Carriage of Goods by Sea (Amendment) Act (2020) (the "Amendment Act") and its supplementary Carriage of Goods by Sea (Amendment of First Schedule) Order 2021 (the "Order") officially came into force.

The Amendment Act and the Order brought into effect the long-awaited changes to the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1950 (the "Principal Act"), which has been in force since 23 May 1950.

Prior to the amendments coming into force, the Principal Act regulated the carriage of goods by sea in Peninsular Malaysia by adopting the International Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules of Law Relating to Bills of Lading, which was incorporated as the First Schedule in the Principal Act.

The main reason for amending the Principal Act is to implement:

• the "Visby Rules" – the Protocol to Amend the International Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules of Law Relating to Bills of Lading of 23 February 1968; and
• the "The Hague-Visby Rules" – the Protocol (SDR Protocol) Amending the International Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules of Law Relating to Bills of Lading of 25 August 1924 (The Hague Rules), as amended by the Protocol of 23 February 1968 (Visby Rules).

The Amendment Act consists of four sections. This article focuses on the following changes:

• The scope of documents relating to shipping transactions, which was limited to bills of lading, has been expanded to keep up with the rapid evolution of international maritime industry practices.
• The First Schedule of the Principal Act has been amended in accordance with the The Hague-Visby Rules.

In this article, our partner and head of the Shipping & Maritime Practice Group, Rajasingam Gothandapani, discusses the significant amendments to the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act.

Click here to read more.

Please feel free to contact Rajasingam Gothandapani if you would like to discuss any issues raised in the article.