4.4 Further on: “pursuant to”
The sub-carrier acts as a result of an assignment, which may have very precise rules governing his duties. However, non-compliance with such rules does not necessarily mean that we are outside the remit of the sub-carrier rules of Chapter 13.
In short, there are many persons contributing to the carriage for whom the carrier may be held responsible, and they may all happen to act negligently. According to court practice, the carrier is on the one hand vicariously liable where e.g. the mate acts negligently, but on the other hand he is not deprived of his right to limit liability. In this respect the answer may depend upon difficult evaluations; the tendency is, however, to accept higher degrees of negligence as being “within the scope of the service”, than was previously the case.(1) See Falkanger, Bull & Brautaset Scandinavian Maritime Law (4th ed. 2017). pp. 202-206. The important point in the present context is that the contracting carrier is liable for the acts of the sub-carrier, even if the sub-carrier’s (or his servants’) performance is not within the required legal framework. However, with regard to sub-carrier’s liability as against the contracting carrier, we have to distinguish between the acts of “the sub-carrier himself” and those of his servants.(2) See e.g. Falkanger, Bull & Brautaset op. cit. pp. 353-354.