Yunqi and Vihaan own and operate a craft brewery in Melbourne, Australia. They are expanding their business
Question:
Yunqi and Vihaan own and operate a craft brewery in Melbourne, Australia. They are expanding their business by exploring export opportunities. After attending an international beer festival in Amsterdam and showcasing their beers, they received a substantial order from a distributor. The order is for 10,000 cartons (24 x 330cl) of Lager. The contract incorporates CIF (Amsterdam) Incoterm 2020, and it was agreed that the shipment would be between 1 April and 1 May 2021.
Arrangements are made for the goods to be shipped aboard Pan Van Cent, owned and operated by Queen International Shipping. As agreed, the goods are packed into a container and delivered to the Port of Melbourne. On 15 March 2021, Queen International Shipping issued a bill of lading, which references the receipt of '1 container said to contain glass bottled beer/beverage'. During the voyage, the ship encountered very rough seas due to storms. Despite having proper equipment to secure the container, a fault in the equipment caused the container to move violently and some of the bottles to break. The fault would not usually be picked up by routine checks. However, if additional checks and a manual inspection of the equipment had been conducted, the fault would have been detected.
Is the carrier liable under the MHVR for the damaged goods? Make sure to consider both parties' potential arguments and reference the relevant articles of the Modified Hague Visby Rules (MHVR) and any relevant cases in your answer.