Bristow US LLC (Bristow) contracted with Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics AS (Wallenius) to transport a civil helicopter and its accessories from Georgia to Australia. Wallenius was responsible for loading the helicopter onto the ship and for its custody before, during and after ocean transit. The helicopter was damaged during the loading.

Wallenius filed a motion for partial summary judgment. Wallenius argued that the helicopter should be considered as a 'package' or a 'single customary freight unit' (CFU) under COGSA/the Hague Rules. Therefore, its liability to Bristow was limited to USD 500. Bristow countered that the helicopter should be regarded as a bundle of CFUs. Specifically, Bristow argued that the relevant CFU was the revenue ton, namely, the unit used to calculate the helicopter's freight. Thus, the limitation of Wallenius' liability should be measured by the number of revenue tons of the helicopter, multiplied by USD 500.

Held: Motion granted.

Under COGSA/the Hague Rules, the term 'package' can be said to define 'a class of cargo, irrespective of size, shape, or weight, to which some packaging preparation for transportation has been made which facilitates handling, but which does not necessarily conceal or completely enclose the goods'. When the parties have contractually defined the cargo shipped as packages, as often occurs in the bill of lading, there is a presumption that those cargo constitute 'packages' for purposes of COGSA/the Hague Rules, which limits damages to USD 500 per package or per CFU in case of cargo not shipped in packages. The Court was persuaded by Wallenius' analogy to yachts on cradles. It has been well-established that a yacht in a cradle constitutes a package. The tow bar used to load the helicopter is analogous to a cradle, and therefore the helicopter should be treated as a package.

In addition, even if the Court found that the proper measure was a CFU, from the face of the bill of lading, the helicopter constituted only one CFU. Moreover, Bristow had a fair and reasonable opportunity to declare a higher value and pay a higher freight in order to opt out of the limitation of liability regime under COGSA/the Hague Rules, but it did not do so. Therefore, regardless of whether the helicopter was measured by 'package' or by CFU, Wallenius' liability was limited to USD 500 under COGSA/the Hague Rules.