Evaluation of the liability of the freight forwarder with respect to carriage of goods by sea

This study, named "Evaluation of the Liability of the Freight Forwarder With Respect to Carriage of Goods by Sea" examines the freight forwarder as regulated under the sixth section of the fourth book of the Turkish Code of Commerce No. 6102, named as "Freight" (between Articles 917 and 930). A freight forwarder can be described in short as a person who is specialized at freight shipment and who undertakes the freight deed from the departure point of the load to its arrival point. In order to fulfil this deed in an economic and fast manner, s/he utilises from the services of carriers at sea, land and air routes separately or in combination. Legal roles that can be enjoyed by freight forwards are varied at submission of a wide service portfolio by freight forwarders to sender load owner and as a result of the flexibility of the subject service roles. The main point that raises in relation to his/her legal role is the question of which additional undertakings were guaranteed to sender by the freight forwarder or which other undertakings were assumed to elevate his/her obligations to the ones of a forwarder. S/he appears as by proxy or in person according to the way of acting at freight works in which s/he takes a role and his/her responsibilities are shaped per this way of taking role. Determining that a freight forwarder acts by proxy or in person at freight works is possible by examining Articles 921, 926 and 927 of the Turkish Code of Commerce. It is regulated by relevant articles that a freight forwarder holds rights and obligations of a carrier when s/he acts in person. Within this frame, provisions on the rights and obligations of the carrier, that are regulated under Articles between 1178 and 1207 of the third division of the freight contract that corresponds to the third chapter of the fourth section, under the Maritime Commerce heading of the fifth book of the Turkish Code of Commerce, finds its implementation for freight forwarders who frequently act in person to cope with changing needs of the maritime commerce industry. Within this scope, this study discusses the place of the freight forwarder in the Turkish law, legal role of the freight forwarder in consideration of the technological developments at the freight system and changing needs of the maritime commerce industry and the roles and obligations that were imputed per these roles, and the questions of at which point and with which conditions that a freight forwarder undertakes rights and obligations of the carrier per the roles s/he assumes at maritime freight, and the responsibilities of the carrier at the maritime freight.