“Carrier” shall mean Steamships Limited trading as East West Transport (EWT) (Incorporated in Papua New Guinea) its servants, agents and Sub-contractors.

“Consignor” shall mean any or all of a person for whom the Carrier carries Goods or Chattels, or who provides Goods or Chattels to the Carrier for storage, or who hires any vehicle from the Carrier, its servants and agents.

“Sub-contractor” shall mean and include:

a) all companies which are subsidiaries of the Carrier within the meaning of that expression as defined in the Companies Act as amended;

b) any other person, firm, company or Statutory body or other organisation with whom the Carrier may arrange for the carriage of any Goods or Chattels the subject of this contract and any person who is now or thereafter a servant, agent, employee or Sub-contractor of any such person.

“Consignee” shall mean a person or entity to whom Goods or Chattels are delivered by the Carrier on behalf of the Consignor, either under a carriage, storage, or vehicle hire arrangement.

“Hirer” shall mean a person or entity that engages the services of the Carrier to hire a vehicle for their use, whether or not such use involves the transportation, storage, or handling of Goods or Chattels.

“Goods/Chattels” Refers to all movable personal property, items, merchandise, equipment, or materials being transported or handled under the terms of this contract. This excludes prohibited items, hazardous materials (unless explicitly agreed upon), and any items not declared or misrepresented by the Customer.

2. The Carrier shall perform services, and the Consignor will pay for same in accordance with these terms and conditions which may not be waived or varied except in writing by the General Manager of the Carrier or their duly authorised officer.

3. The Carrier is not a common Carrier and will accept no liability as such. All articles are carried or transported, and all storage and other services are performed by the Carrier subject only to these conditions and the Carrier reserves the right to refuse the carriage or transport of articles for any person, corporation or company and the carriage or transport of any class of articles at its discretion. The Carrier shall not be bound by any agreement purporting to vary these conditions unless such agreement shall be in writing and signed on behalf of the Carrier by the General Manager of the Carrier or their duly authorised officer.

4. Insurance will not be arranged by the Carrier except within the express instructions in writing of the consignor and then only at his expense and on lodgement of a declaration as to value prior to collection or deposit of the items to be insured. The Consignor is strongly advised to arrange its own insurer.

5. (a) Unless otherwise expressly agreed in writing, no responsibility in terms or otherwise will be accepted by the Carrier for any loss of damage to or mis-delivery of failure to deliver or delay in the delivery of Goods or Chattels either in transit or in storage for any reason whatsoever, including negligence, and notwithstanding any delay in delivery by the Carrier.

(b) Goods or Chattels shall be deemed to be in transit notwithstanding that the Carriage of the Goods or Chattels may have been interrupted, or the Carrier may have diverted from the usual route for such carriage.

6. The Consignor that the person delivering any Goods or Chattels to the Carrier for carriage or forwarding, or storage, or any person seeking hire of a vehicle is authorised to sign our consignment note for the Consignor.

7. The Carrier is authorized to deliver the Goods or Chattels at the address given to the Carrier by the Consignor for that purpose and it is expressly agreed that the Carrier shall be taken to have delivered the Goods or Chattels in accordance with this contract if at that address he obtains from any person a receipt or signed delivery docket for the Goods or Chattels.

8. For contracts of carriage the Carrier’s charges shall be considered due and payable as soon as the Goods or Chattels are loaded and dispatched and / or the Carrier’s transport vehicle has departed the Carrier’s premises to fulfil the relevant contract of carriage.

9. Time for storage of Goods or Chattels or hire of vehicles will commence from time the Goods or Chattels are delivered to the Carrier or the Carrier’s transport vehicle departs from the Carrier’s premises and will continue until the Goods or Chattels are removed or the Carrier’s transport vehicle returns to the Carrier’s premises in normal working hours. Normal working hours are from 0800 to 1700 during the week (Monday to Friday), and 0800 to 1200 Saturdays, with 1 hour allowed for the midday meal. Overtime for drivers working outside these hours (including on Saturday after 1200, all-day Sunday and public holidays) will be charged.

10. If the Consignor expressly or impliedly instructs the Carrier to use or it is expressly or impliedly agreed that the Carrier will use a particular method of handling or storing the Goods or Chattels or a particular method of carriage whether by road, sea or air the Carrier will give priority to that method but if it cannot conveniently be adopted by the Carrier, the Consignor hereby authorizes the Carrier to handle or store or carry or have the Goods or Chattels carried by another method or methods.