East West Transport Standard Terms and Conditions

1. Definitions:

“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.

11. The provisions of these conditions shall apply to the container or containers or other packaging containing the Goods or Chattels and to any pallets delivered with the Goods or Chattels to the Carrier. The Consignor shall be responsible for the conformity of such containers, packaging and pallets with any requirements of the Consignee and for any expense incurred by the Carrier arising from any failure so to conform.

12. Any Goods or Chattels carried by a vehicle hired from the Carrier are at the risk of the Hirer/Consignor and not the Carrier and unless expressly agreed in writing, the Carrier shall not be held responsible in tort or contract or otherwise for any loss of or damage to or deterioration of Goods or Chattels or mis-delivery or failure to deliver or delay in delivery of Goods or Chattels including chilled, frozen, refrigerated or perishable Goods or Chattels either in transit or in Storage for any reason whatsoever including, without limiting the fore-going, the negligence or wilful act or default of the Carrier or others.

13. The services provided by the Carrier under this contract are subject to the published terms and conditions which are either printed on our delivery dockets, or on the Carrier’s website (https://eastwesttransport.com.pg/terms-conditions/) or will be provided on request or on display at the Carrier’s office (Portion 1486, Granville (Baruni), Port Moresby, National Capital District, Papua New Guinea).

14. The Consignor will be and will remain responsible to the Carrier for all its proper charges incurred for any reason. Payment shall be made by the Consignor within the stated due date. The Consignor shall pay interest on any overdue debts to encourage timely payment and to compensate for the financial impact of delayed collections. Interest on overdue debts will be calculated at a rate of 6.5% per annum or as specified in the contractual agreement; interest accrues daily but is not compounded. In any legal proceedings for recovery of outstanding amounts a certificate by a senior employee of the Carrier shall be prima-facie evidence of the monies outstanding.

15. A charge will be made by the Carrier in respect of any delay in excess of 30 minutes in loading or unloading occurring other than from the default of the Carrier. The 30-minute permissible delay period shall commence upon the Carrier reporting for loading or unloading. Labor to load or unload the vehicles shall be the responsibility and at the expense of the Consignor. Should the Consignee/Consignor of the Goods or Chattels described hereon not be in attendance with the address given during normal trading hours when delivery is attempted, an additional compensatory charge will be made for each attempted delivery.

16. If any person fails to pay charges due to the Carrier in respect of any service rendered by the Carrier on reasonable demand being made in accordance with these conditions, the Carrier may detain and at its absolute discretion sell all or any of the Goods or Chattels of that person which are in its possession and pay its outstanding amounts out of moneys arising from such sales. The Carrier shall account for the balance of such sales proceeds and such of the Goods or Chattels as remain unsold to the person entitled thereto. Any such sale shall not prejudice or affect charges due or payable in respect of such service of the said detention and sale.

17. The Carrier may charge freight by weight, measurement or value and may at any time re-weigh or revalue or re-measure or require the Goods or Chattels to be reweighed, revalued or remeasured and charge proportional additional freight accordingly. The Carrier reserves the right to adjust rates before or after acceptance of the quotation to meet any adjustments in charges imposed by an instrumentality outside the control of the Carrier.

18. a) If the Carrier is required to pack any Goods or Chattels subject to this contract, the Carrier shall not be liable for any damage or loss whatsoever whether in the course of packing or in transit or otherwise and howsoever occasioned to the said Goods or Chattels or any of them.

b) When the Carrier is required to load, or unload any liquids, partly liquids, substances or any commodities or products into bulk tanks or vessels, drums or containers, the Carrier shall not be liable for any loss, damage or contamination of product during any such loading or unloading operations or packing, whilst such product is in transit by any means of transportation or whilst Goods or Chattels are held in store or bulk storage tanks for any reason whatsoever.

19. The Consignor or his authorised agent shall not carry on any vehicle hired from the Carrier, or tender to the Carrier for carriage or storage any explosive, inflammable or otherwise dangerous or damaging Goods or Chattels without presenting a full description of these Goods or Chattels and in default of so doing shall be liable for all loss and damage caused thereby.

20. The carrier will recover cost of fuel through its Transport Fuel Surcharge [TFS]. Information concerning TFS changes is revised and published quarterly.

21. The Carrier shall not be liable for any claims and penalties charged by the Consignee/Consignor’s third-party vendors including but not limited to container detention and wharf charges.

22. All market notices and information published by the Carrier, where applicable, shall be considered part of standard terms and conditions.