Common carriers, from the nature of their business and for reasons of public policy, are bound to observe extraordinary diligence in the vigilance over the goods transported by them. Subject to certain exceptions enumerated under Article 1734 of the Civil Code, common carriers are responsible for the loss, destruction, or deterioration of the goods. The extraordinary responsibility of the common carrier lasts from the time the goods are unconditionally placed in the possession of, and received by the carrier for transportation until the same are delivered, actually or constructively, by the carrier to the consignee, or to the person who has a right to receive them.
For marine vessels, Article 619 of the Code of Commerce provides that the ship captain is liable for the cargo from the time it is turned over to him at the dock or afloat alongside the vessel at the port of loading, until he delivers it on the shore or on the discharging wharf at the port of unloading, unless agreed otherwise. In Standard Oil Co. of New York v. Lopez Castelo, the Court interpreted the ship captain’s liability as ultimately that of the shipowner by regarding the captain as the representative of the shipowner.
Lastly, Section 2 of the COGSA provides that under every contract of carriage of goods by sea, the carrier in relation to the loading, handling, stowage, carriage, custody, care, and discharge of such goods, shall be subject to the responsibilities and liabilities and entitled to the rights and immunities set forth in the Act. Section 3 (2) thereof then states that among the carriers’ responsibilities are to properly and carefully load, handle, stow, carry, keep, care for, and discharge the goods carried.
It is settled in maritime law jurisprudence that cargoes while being unloaded generally remain under the custody of the carrier x x x.
In Regional Container Lines (RCL) of Singapore v. The Netherlands Insurance Co. (Philippines), Inc. and Asian Terminals, Inc. v. Philam Insurance Co., Inc., the Court echoed the doctrine that cargoes, while being unloaded, generally remain under the custody of the carrier. We cannot agree with Westwind’s disputation that "the carrier in Wallem clearly exercised supervision during the discharge of the shipment and that is why it was faulted and held liable for the damage incurred by the shipment during such time." What Westwind failed to realize is that the extraordinary responsibility of the common carrier lasts until the time the goods are actually or constructively delivered by the carrier to the consignee or to the person who has a right to receive them. There is actual delivery in contracts for the transport of goods when possession has been turned over to the consignee or to his duly authorized agent and a reasonable time is given him to remove the goods.16 In this case, since the discharging of the containers/skids, which were covered by only one bill of lading, had not yet been completed at the time the damage occurred, there is no reason to imply that there was already delivery, actual or constructive, of the cargoes to ATI. Indeed, the earlier case of Delsan Transport Lines, Inc. v. American Home Assurance Corp. serves as a useful guide, thus:
Delsan’s argument that it should not be held liable for the loss of diesel oil due to backflow because the same had already been actually and legally delivered to Caltex at the time it entered the shore tank holds no water. It had been settled that the subject cargo was still in the custody of Delsan because the discharging thereof has not yet been finished when the backflow occurred. Since the discharging of the cargo into the depot has not yet been completed at the time of the spillage when the backflow occurred, there is no reason to imply that there was actual delivery of the cargo to the consignee. Delsan is straining the issue by insisting that when the diesel oil entered into the tank of Caltex on shore, there was legally, at that moment, a complete delivery thereof to Caltex. To be sure, the extraordinary responsibility of common carrier lasts from the time the goods are unconditionally placed in the possession of, and received by, the carrier for transportation until the same are delivered, actually or constructively, by the carrier to the consignee, or to a person who has the right to receive them. The discharging of oil products to Caltex Bulk Depot has not yet been finished, Delsan still has the duty to guard and to preserve the cargo. The carrier still has in it the responsibility to guard and preserve the goods, a duty incident to its having the goods transported.
To recapitulate, common carriers, from the nature of their business and for reasons of public policy, are bound to observe extraordinary diligence in vigilance over the goods and for the safety of the passengers transported by them, according to all the circumstances of each case. The mere proof of delivery of goods in good order to the carrier, and their arrival in the place of destination in bad order, make out a prima facie case against the carrier, so that if no explanation is given as to how the injury occurred, the carrier must be held responsible. It is incumbent upon the carrier to prove that the loss was due to accident or some other circumstances inconsistent with its liability. (Westwind Shipping v. UCPB, G.R. No. 200289, November 25, 2013)
Cargoes, while being unloaded, generally remain under the custody of the carrier
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