Winkenson Impex Co Ltd (the plaintiff) claimed to have shipped goods in a container from Hong Kong to Nigeria. Haverton Shipping Ltd (the first defendant) was the carrier of that container. Gold Star Line (the second defendant) chartered ships from the first defendant. The goods were referred to in four bills of lading. The container arrived safely at Port Harcourt, Nigeria. It was to be moved from the pier to a bonded warehouse some distance from the port. Lagos & Niger Shipping Agencies Ltd (Lansal) had authorised the driver of a truck belonging to Gakna Transportation to transport the container. The container disappeared during transportation. A police report was made, suggesting that the driver had stolen the container.

The plaintiff claimed for the price of the goods shipped. It was common ground between the parties that the contract of carriage was subject to the Hague-Visby Rules.

Held: The plaintiff's claim is dismissed.

The plaintiff did not discharge the burden of proving that it owned the goods. The Court was also not prepared to accept that the goods referred to in the bills of lading were in fact shipped.

The Court made the following obiter observations. The plaintiff would have succeeded in its claim had it proved that the goods referred to in the bills of lading were in fact shipped and that it owned the goods. This was because Lansal delivered the container to a third party without receiving any bill of lading as agents for the defendants. In such circumstances, Lansal’s act of parting with the goods without requiring the bill of lading would have constituted 'fault' under art 4.2.q of the Hague-Visby Rules. The burden of claiming the benefit of the exemption in art 4.2.q of the Hague-Visby Rules would have lain upon the defendants. On the evidence available, the defendants would not have succeeded in shifting this burden. Thus, the defendants would not have been able to rely on art 4.2.q of the Hague-Visby Rules as a defence to the plaintiff’s claim.