The plaintiff claimed that it carried 20 buses from Iran to Aden, Yemen, under the agreements with the defendant, which included a FIOS clause. According to these agreements, the defendant was responsible for loading, stowing, and unloading the cargo, but it failed to load and discharge the cargo within the agreed time, causing delay and damage to the defendant.

The defendant argued that loading and unloading are the carrier's responsibilities and that the delay was caused by the non-payment of the port charges in the discharge port. It requested the Court to dismiss the claim.

Held: The defendant was ordered to pay damages and legal fees to the plaintiff.

It could be inferred from the term 'Shipper Load All Cargo' in the bill of lading, in line with the performance of the FIOS clause, that the shipper (in this case, the defendant) accepted the legal responsibility of loading, stowage, and discharge of the cargo. Moreover, the defendant provided the required facilities, including drivers for driving the buses onto the vessel. Therefore, the failure to load and discharge in due time and the delay in loading and discharge resulted in the defendant's liability. The notice of readiness of the vessel for discharge and the statement of facts indicate the preparedness of the vessel to discharge as well as the delay in discharge by the shipper and its agent, ie the buyer. According to the expert's opinion for determining demurrage, which was not objected to by the parties, the damage incurred, under the agreed rate, amounts to USD 34,392.20.

Invoking the provisions of the relevant Incoterm, art 52 and 55 (2)(i) of the Maritime Code (based on arts 1 and 4.2.i of the Hague Rules respectively), and art 143 of the Maritime Code, the defendant is adjudged to pay the plaintiff USD 34,392.20 for the main claim, and IRR 5,009,600 for legal fees.