In November 2006 a company named PPE SA bought five diesel engines from a company based in Belfast. The purchaser entered into a transport agreement with Administrative National Award Association SA, in terms of which the latter undertook to find a carrier and to transport the machinery from Belfast to Egaleo, which was undertaken by Gracechurch Container Line Ltd. Thus, the machines were placed in a container and transported through Liverpool, Great Britain and Salerno, Italy, to Piraeus. The purchaser's engines were insured by the appellant insurance company. On 10 January 2007 the machines were delivered to the buyer and when the container was opened, it was found that the machines had been struck during transport and had been damaged by the movement of the container and the unloading and loading of the container at an intermediate port. The appellant insurance company paid the purchaser EUR 21,850 on 7 December 2007. The appellant insurance company then sought to recover this amount from the respondent carrier.

In the contested decision, the Court of Appeal held that the appellant insurance company's claim was time-barred under art 3.6 of the Hague-Visby Rules.

Held: Appeal granted. Decision of the Piraeus Court of Appeal set aside and the case returned to the same Court of Appeal differently constituted. 

Law 2107/1992 ratified the Hague-Visby Rules and SDR Protocol. In particular, art 3.6 of the Hague-Visby Rules provides: 'In any event, the carrier and the ship shall be relieved of any liability for loss or damage if no action is brought within one year from the delivery of the goods or from the date on which the delivery should have taken place'. This article establishes a limitation period of a year on the consignee's right to compensation for lost or damaged cargo. Such limitation begins to run upon the receipt or delivery of the goods or from the date on which they should have been delivered and applies uniformly to both the contractual and non-contractual liability of the maritime carrier, not only for the loss or damage of goods, but also for other claims of the person concerned in relation to the cargo. However, the Hague-Visby Rules do not specify anything to interrupt or suspend the limitation period. These cases are regulated by arts 14 and 15 of Law 2496/1997, according to which: 'In case of substitution of the insurer, the limitation of the claims of the beneficiary of the insurance against the third party shall not be completed before the expiration of six (6) months from the substitution, if it occurred before the lapse or amortization of these claims.' This provision does not contradict the Hague-Visby Rules, inasmuch as it does not introduce a rule different from the one in question but supplements it in a matter which is not regulated by it.

Therefore, the relevant single ground of appeal is well founded.