Full Volume 19 - Federal Maritime Commission

INDEX DIGEST
Monday after Sunday the last day of the two year limitation period The Commission s
offices were also closed on the preceding Saturday Dismissal of the complaint for late
rding would have caused undue hardship Therefore the Commission in its discretion
waived pursuant to Rule lj the exception of Rule 5 c contained in Rule 7 a so that by
making Rule 7 a applicable to the computation of the two year limitations period the
filing of the complaint was timely CSC International Inc v Waterman Steamship
Corp 332 333
The only reference in the Commission s rules to the computation of the two year
statutory period is found in Rule 7 a which by express terms makes that method of
computing time inapplicable to filings under Rule 5 c such as complaints seeking
reparation under section 22 of the 1916 Shipping Act The Commis ion however has
reserved the right in Rule lj to waive all but one of its rules provided such waiver is
not inconsistent with any statute and is warranted to prevent manifest injustice or undue
hardship Id 333
A tariffprovision such as one requiring that a claim for adjustment of freight charges
if based on alleged errors in description weight andlor measurement will not be
considered unless presented to the carrier in writing before the shipment involved leaves
the custody of the carrier cannot be used to defeat a claim for reparation which was
otherwise properly f11ed within the two year statute of limitation period Properly f11ed
claims must be considered on the merits Kraft Foods v Moore McCormack Lines
Inc 407 409
An overcharge complaint relating to shipments delivered on November 12 1973
which complaint was filed on November 12 1975 was not filed within the two year
statutory period provided in section 22 of the Shipping Act 1916 and was accordingly
dismissed as untimely The last day on which the action could have been brought was
November 11 1975 and as the Commission s offices were open for business on that
day no undue hardship permitting waiver of the timeliness requirement was found to
exist Commercial Solvents Corporation International Inc v Moore McCormack Lines
Inc 424 425
An overcharge complaint relating to a shipment delivered on November 9 1973
which complaint was f11ed on November 12 1975 was not filed within the two year
statutory period provided by section 22 of the Shipping Act 1916 and was accordingly
dismissed as untimely The last day on which the complaintcould have been timely filed
was November 8 1975 however as that day was a Saturday and the Commission s
offices were closed the complainant would have been permitted to file its complaint
through Monday November 10 Rejection fthe complaint at any time thereafter did
not constitute an unfair hardship warranting the issuance of a waiver of the timeliness
requirement Id 425
Claims for reparation filed on December 29 1975 which related to shipments shipped
according to their bills of lading on December 21 1973 and January 28 1974 and on
which freight charges were collected respectively on July 2 1974 and April 2 1974
were filed within the two year statutory period provided in section 22 of the Shipping
Act 1916 A cause of action based upon a claim for reparation accrues at the time of
shipment or at the time of payment of freight charges whichever is later in the instant
case the payment of freight charges occurred later than the time of shipment and the
cause of action accrued at the time of collection CSC International Inc v Orient
Overseas Container Line Inc 465 470
A cause of action on a claim for reparation for freight overcharges accrues at the time
of shipment or payment of the freight whichever is later Hobelmann International Inc
v Moore McCormack Lines Inc 572 574
19 F MC
863