Intro...The use of standardised intermodal containers, which enhances the
safety of goods in transit and reduces operating costs, has caused multimodal
transport to become a global phenomenon since its introduction
in the maritime environment during the previous century. Despite
its practical success, however, the proliferation of this type of transport
has up until now not been matched by suitable uniform legislation. Political
discord and the fact that the use of more than one mode of
transport under a single contract complicates the legal situation exponentially
probably lie at the root of this deficiency.
Although the multimodal contract of carriage contends with some
other legal impediments, the most prominent one seems to be that of
ambiguity with regard to the applicable law. The reason for the obscurity
in this area is that there is no international multimodal transport
convention to lay the ground rules on how to approach a multimodal
contract