G.F. Company v. Pan Ocean Shipping Co., Ltd., Aka, Panobulk America, Inc., and Pan Queen, Its Engines, Tackle, Apparel and Furniture Banque Indosuez

Opinion by Judge HALL.

Defendant Pan Ocean Shipping Company appeals the district court’s summary judgment for plaintiff G.F. Company in an action under the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act for damages to plywood that Pan Ocean transported from the Far East to the United States. We conclude the district court erred by invalidating the disclaimers on Pan Ocean’s bills of lading and, accordingly, we reverse.

I.

In 1988, G.F. Company purchased a cargo of wooden doorskins from Pyramid Trading Company, a Taiwanese supplier, and arranged for shipment from the port at Kaohsiung via the MTV Pan Queen, a vessel owned and operated by Pan Ocean Shipping Company. Upon receiving the doorskins from Pyramid, Pan Ocean issued bills of lading for the cargo. The bills of lading, which provided that the goods were “in apparent good order and condition unless otherwise indicated,” contained the following disclaimer (the “Wood Clause”):

After the Pan Queen set sail and discharged its cargo in Charleston and New Orleans, G.F. discovered that the doorskins had significant physical damage. G.F. submitted timely claims for the loss to Panobulk America, Inc., Pan Ocean’s claims agent, but was unable to…