Opinion ID: 6572
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Inherent Defect

Text: By its clearly expressed terms, subsection (m) applies only when the defect, quality, or vice is inherent in the cargo. As this Court explained in Quaker Oats Co. v. M/V Torvanger, to prove that the inherent defect provision applies, the carrier must show that some defect, quality, or vice existed within the cargo, itself. 734 F.2d 238, 241 n. 3 (5th Cir.1984). Consistent with our construction of this provision, every carrier in every section 1304(2)(m) case argued before this Court, prior to this case, has contended that a condition inherent in or on the goods at issue caused the loss or damage in question. In Shell Oil, the carriers complained that the fuel oil there contained excessive amounts of paraffin which caused the cargo to become extremely viscous and, hence, unpumpable. 790 F.2d at 1213. The carriers in Quaker Oats contended that a peroxide formation within the cargo, tetrahydrofuran, was an inherent vice. 734 F.2d at 241. Similarly, in Harbert International Establishment v. Power Shipping, (5th Cir.1981) the carriers asserted that pipes which they transported contained defective seal coats. 635 F.2d 370, 374 10 (5th Cir.1981). Finally, in this Court's only other section 1304(2)(m) case, Horn v. Cia de Navegacion Fruco S.A., the carriers argued that bananas which they transported had been loaded in an overly ripe condition. 404 F.2d at 435. These cases are all readily distinguishable from the facts of this case. The temperature of the fuel oil transported by the OVERSEAS ARCTIC in this case did not constitute an inherent defect. A defect—perhaps; however, the defect, unlike those in the above-reviewed cases, was due to external, as opposed to internal conditions. A simple change in the external conditions could have easily remedied the fuel oil's temperature problems. Thus, based upon the explicit terms of subsection (m), as well as our construction of that provision in Quaker Oats, this Court finds that the inherent defect exception is unavailable to the Carriers here.