Attorney Gil Nadel, Attorney Omer Wagner
The magistrates court of Haifa recently ruled that the Haifa Port Company will recompense the Golmat Company at a sum of NIS 25,000 for the loss of a shipping container that took a long time to find.
The case and the claims made by the parties:
The Golmat Company from Kibbutz Yakum, one of the largest companies for thermal and acoustic insulation for construction and industry, imported a container of plastic sheets in 2008. It arrived in the Ashdod Port and was transferred by train to the Haifa Port.
When Golmat requested to release the container, the Haifa Port informed them that the container could not be found.
After a month and a half, the container was found in the port and the Haifa Port Company charged Golmat (through their Customs agent) with a storage fee of approximately NIS 10,000 for the storage period.
Golmat requested the Haifa Port to return the storage fee.
After negotiations, the Haifa Port agreed to recompense Golmat with half of the storage fee (NIS 5,000), but refused to return the rest of the sum.
Golmat refused this offer and submitted a lawsuit for NIS 30,000, represented by Attorneys Gil Nadel, Rotem Virnik and Omer Wagner of our office.
Golmat claimed that the Haifa Port was negligent in losing the container, and added that besides the storage fee, they suffered additional losses due to their inability to supply their clients with the materials that were in the container for so long, and the loss of future business deals that caused a drop in their profits.
The Port tried to renounce their responsibility in the matter and claimed Golmat did not request the release of the container for a long time (neither them or their Customs agent), and when they did request its release they provided incorrect data for this container, which made it difficult to locate. The court advised that the third party's proclamation be omitted and so the court was required to rule solely on the relations between Golmat and the Port.
The verdict:
In the verdict that was recently given for reaching a compromise (June 2012), Judge Ahsan Canaan instructed the Haifa Port to recompense Golmat at a sum of NIS 20,000 with the addition of legal expenses at a sum of NIS 4,200, and in so doing, supported most of Golmat's claims, for all practical purposes.
[Civil suit (magistrates court of Haifa) 10894-01 Golmat Ltd. vs The Haifa Port Company Ltd., verdict of June 11, 2012, Judge Ahsan Canaan. Party representatives: on behalf of Golmat- Attorneys Gil Nadel, Rotem Virnik and Omer Wagner of our offices. On behalf of the Haifa Port- Attorney Shai Biterman of the law offices of Yaakov Salomon-Lipshitz].
Notes:
As part of the Port's operations, the Port charges a storage fee for the containers located on its site. These storage fees are usually charged via the importer's Customs agent and not directly from the importer himself, by means of a clearing house, after which the Customs agent charges the same storage fees from his client, the importer.
In this case the Haifa Port charged a storage fee for a container that had been on its site from Golmat's Customs agent and not directly from Golmat. For their part, Golmat filed a lawsuit against the Port only after they had paid the Cusoms agent for this storage fee.
Although there was no direct contractual agreement between Golmat and the Port regarding storage fees, the court supported (most) of the claim, because Golmat made a claim for damage liability from the Port (negligence in handling a container) and not for a contractual liability.
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