KISKO PRODUCTS (GH) LTD vs. DELMAS AMERICA AFRICA LINES

JUDGEMENT Wood JA. The plaintiffs are a limited liability company, incorporated under the laws of Ghana and deals in used car spare parts and accessories. In 1998 Ocean Marine Shipping Incorporated, freight forwarders who were engaged by the plaintiffs, contracted the defendants, a shipping company based in the United States to tranship the plaintiffs’ cargo from Canada to Ghana. On taking delivery of the consignment, the plaintiffs discovered to their chagrin that a number of the items were damaged, while others which were taken off the container in New York, on the grounds that it was overweight, were not shipped at all to them, contrary to an agreement to that effect. The plaintiffs therefore sued in their capacity as owner-consignees, for both general and special damages for the loss arising from the alleged breaches of contract or duty or both. The plaint was founded on a number of material facts most of which were however flatly denied by the defendants. These were that: .....