What is inherent vice, and how can it affect cargo claims?

What is inherent vice, and how can it affect cargo claims?

• A. It is a type of salvage award.
• B. Inherent vice is a natural, intrinsic quality of the goods that causes damage; it can exempt carrier liability if damage results from the intrinsic nature of the cargo rather than from carrier fault.
• C. It is damage caused by improper stowage.
• D. It is a defect in the vessel's hull.

Answer: (B)

Inherent vice is a natural, intrinsic quality of certain goods that makes them prone to damage or deterioration as part of their own nature, even when the carrier handles and stores them with due care. When damage results from that inherent tendency of the cargo, the carrier can be exempt from liability because the loss isn’t caused by the carrier’s fault or neglect, but by the cargo’s own characteristics. This defense is invoked under carriage conventions like COGSA, recognizing that some damage would have happened regardless of how carefully the goods were transported. It’s not a shield for damage caused by improper stowage or by a defect in the vessel; those issues involve the carrier’s fault rather than the cargo’s intrinsic nature. For example, perishables that spoil due to their own tendency to deteriorate or goods that have a natural propensity to react can experience inherent vice.

Inherent vice is a natural, intrinsic quality of certain goods that makes them prone to damage or deterioration as part of their own nature, even when the carrier handles and stores them with due care. When damage results from that inherent tendency of the cargo, the carrier can be exempt from liability because the loss isn’t caused by the carrier’s fault or neglect, but by the cargo’s own characteristics. This defense is invoked under carriage conventions like COGSA, recognizing that some damage would have happened regardless of how carefully the goods were transported. It’s not a shield for damage caused by improper stowage or by a defect in the vessel; those issues involve the carrier’s fault rather than the cargo’s intrinsic nature. For example, perishables that spoil due to their own tendency to deteriorate or goods that have a natural propensity to react can experience inherent vice.