Judge Shira Scheindlin
Savanna Auto Sales charged Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC) with misdelivering a shipment of used cars. The bill of lading described the shipment's contents as "4 unpackaged multiple units of autos" and also "one lot of used auto parts." It also said "Total Number of Packages: 4" and stated that the carrier received one container. A clause in the lading bill also purported to define the term "package" for purposes of the Carriage of Goods By Sea Act (COGSA). In Savanna's action seeking the cargo's $75,978 value, MSC asserted that its liability was limited to either $500 or $2000 under COGSA's $500 per package limitation. Declining to expand the doctrine of unreasonable deviation to include Savanna's claim of "corrupt or criminal misdelivery" the court found neither the cars nor the shipping container COGSA packages. Thus MSC's maximum liability was determined by the total number of "customary freight units." Because the freight at issue was prepaid and the bill of lading did not disclose the units used to calculate it, the court lacked the evidence needed to determine the number of customary freight units that were shipped. As a result the court could not determine MSC's maximum potential liability.
