Carriers's liability of keeping the vessel suitable for navigation (Navigable) at the beginning of the voyage in performance of freight contract

In performance of the freight contract, the carrier's main performance debt is transporting the cargo to its destination without damage. The vessel used for the transportation shall be seaworthy. This is a fundamental element in terms of the safety of the journey and the cargo. In this respect, the carrier is obliged to maintain the vessel seaworthy, navigable and cargo worthy at the beginning of the voyage. This obligation of the carrier is at first accepted and shaped with international conventions related to maritime. Either countries have chosen to become a party of these conventions directly; or they have chosen the way of adoption of these provisions of liability related to the seaworthiness of the vessel internally. In this study, carrier's liability of keeping the vessel seaworthy at the beginning of the voyage in performance of freight contract is analyzed within the framework the Turkish Commercial Code ("TCC") and the rules accepted under international conventions. Firstly, in order to analyze better the subject freight contracts are covered elaborately. In the second chapter of the study, the carrier's liability of keeping the vessel seaworthy at the beginning of the voyage, elements of navigability, its place in national, international law and its legal nature have been examined. In the third chapter, the obligations of the carrier in ensuring the navigability, violation of the obligation and the consequences thereof are emphasized. In addition, in this chapter, the evidence conditions required in order to hold the carrier liable for damage resulting from this inconvenience, the effects thereof within the framework of non-liability conditions under the scope of TCC and limits of the carrier's indemnity liability have been examined