Konica Business Machines v. The Vessel Sea-Land Consumer

153 F.3d 1076 (1998)

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Konica Business Machines v. The Vessel Sea-Land Consumer

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
153 F.3d 1076 (1998)

Facts

Konica Business Machines, Inc. (Konica) (plaintiff) shipped photocopy machines and contracted with Sea-Land Service, Inc. (Sea-Land) (defendant) as carrier. The parties agreed in their bill of lading to limit Sea-Land’s liability to $1,000 for any photocopier that fell overboard. The contract was silent as to whether Sea-Land was to store the machines on or below the deck. Following industry custom, Sea-Land stored the containers holding the machines above deck. Moreover, Sea-Land used a vessel that was specifically designed for above-deck container storage. Several copy machines fell overboard during the voyage, and Konica sued to recover their full value. The district court awarded damages to Konica but limited them to the $1,000-per-machine contractual limitation. Konica appealed the district court’s enforcement of the limitation of liability, arguing that the above-deck stowage of its machines was a deviation from the shipping contract.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (McKeown, J.)

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