This was an application under the Federal Court Rules 2011 (Cth) to serve the first defendant in South Korea. For the court to allow service out of the jurisdiction, it is sufficient that there be a prima facie case for relief made out on material before the Court, based on inferences that are open which, if translated into findings of fact, would support the relief claimed in respect of one of the causes of action relied on by the plaintiff.

The plaintiffs were companies related to the producer of the champagne Moët & Chandon. The second plaintiff loaded a 40 foot container said to contain 1760 packages of Moët champagne on board the Hanjin Aqua in Singapore on 1 August 2014 bound for Sydney. The first plaintiff was named as the consignee and notify party on the bill of lading. When the shipment was discharged in Sydney, the plaintiffs were advised the container was damaged and the cargo was completely destroyed. The bill of lading recorded that the cargo was received on board the Hanjin Aqua in good order and condition.

Held: The ordinary duty of a bailee for reward and of a carrier under art 3.2 of the Amended Hague Rules in sch 1A to the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1991 (Cth) is to keep, care for and discharge the goods properly and carefully. On the basis of the damage apparently done to the cargo after it was received at Singapore in the apparent good order and condition referred to in the bill of lading, there was a prima facie case that the first defendant breached its duty as bailee and under art 3.2 by delivering the cargo to the first plaintiff in Sydney in a damaged condition.