Consignee liability for demurrage on imported goods under port law, while the steamer agent is not liable for clearance charges.

Imported goods covered by a bill of lading were treated as giving rise to demurrage liability on the consignee as the person entitled to the goods and the "owner" for port law purposes. Reading the Major Port Trusts Act with the Bills of Lading Act, 1856, the analysis states that the contractual relationship for recovery of port charges lay between the Port Trust and the consignee. Because the steamer agent had no role in clearing the goods from the port premises, liability for demurrage could not be fastened on that agent. The consignee alone bore the obligation to pay the charges.

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Issues: Whether, on the facts of the import and storage of goods at the port, the consignee alone was liable to pay demurrage charges to the Port Trust or whether the steamer agent could also be fastened with such liability.

Analysis: The liability was examined in the light of the statutory definition of "owner" under the Major Port Trusts Act and the effect of the Bills of Lading Act, 1856. The holder of the bill of lading, namely the consignee, was treated as the person entitled to the goods and as the party from whom port charges could be recovered. The contractual relationship was held to be between the Port Trust and the consignee, with the consignee bearing the obligations arising from clearance of the goods. The steamer agent had no role in the clearance of the imported goods from the port premises and was not the person liable for the demurrage.

Conclusion: The consignee alone was liable for the demurrage charges and the steamer agent was not liable.

Ratio Decidendi: In cases of imported goods covered by a bill of lading, demurrage liability attaches to the consignee as the owner for purposes of the port law, and not to the steamer agent, where the agent is not responsible for clearing the goods.

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