Ship agents and their liability

Mihail Tomov, Lawyer | Varna

Under Article 222 of the Merchant Shipping Code, a ship agent undertakes, for a fee, to provide customary shipping services in a particular port or territory in the name and for the account of the ship operator. The agent represents the operator before port authorities, state and local authorities and institutions, and individuals and legal entities in Bulgaria. The agent represents both the operator and the master in formalities and other matters relating to the vessel’s arrival, stay and departure. On the operator’s behalf the agent may enter into contracts of carriage, insurance and ship handling; issue and sign bills of lading for cargo loaded; deliver consignments against presentation of the original bills of lading by their lawful holders; collect prepaid and outstanding freight and other sums owed to the operator under the contract of carriage; and, on the instructions of the operator or master, pay expenses arising from the vessel’s stay in Bulgarian ports. The agent may bring court proceedings on their behalf and instruct lawyers to bring and conduct those proceedings.

The agency agreement is bilateral and provides for remuneration. Once it is concluded, the ship agent must perform the legal and practical acts listed in the Code, with all the consequences that follow. The agent acts in the name and for the account of the operator throughout. This is direct representation: the legal effects arise directly for the principal. They do not first arise for the agent, as they do in indirect representation under a mandate.

Liability for damage in a maritime casualty rests with the shipowner or the person operating the vessel, such as a bareboat charterer or sub-charterer under a bareboat charter. Article 222 does not make the agent jointly and severally liable, or independently liable, for the shipowner’s obligations. The fact that the agent may pay port expenses on the operator’s instructions does not make the agent jointly and severally liable for them. The agent cannot be treated as the debtor under a bilateral relationship in which the agent acted as the direct representative of one party.

If you have questions about maritime law or ship agency, or face court proceedings concerning a maritime matter, it is advisable to consult a maritime lawyer.