Guide
Cargo legal liability is not cargo insurance
Updated
Shippers routinely assume goods are covered because the carrier is liable. The two are not the same, and the gap shows up during a claim, far too late to close.
How cargo legal liability works
A carrier's liability for loss or damage is limited by the contract of carriage and the applicable convention, and the limit is commonly expressed by weight rather than by value. That means a pallet of electronics and a pallet of sand of the same weight can carry the same cap.
It is also fault-based in practice: recovering means establishing the carrier's responsibility, within time limits, against a party whose standard terms were written to manage exactly that.
What cargo insurance does instead
It pays you for loss or damage on the terms of the policy, without requiring you to establish anybody's fault first. That is the whole point, and it is why it is a separate purchase.
The insurer may then pursue the carrier, which is their problem rather than yours.
Read the bill of lading
The liability limit is a term of the carriage contract. Ask whose bill of lading you will hold and to see the terms on the reverse before booking rather than after sailing.
If the limit is materially below the value of the cargo, and it usually is, that is not a reason to avoid the carrier. It is the argument for insuring.
Time limits
Claims against carriers are subject to short notification and suit time limits, and missing them ends the claim regardless of merit.
Note the dates on arrival, not when a problem is confirmed. Damage found on unpacking a week later is a common way to fall outside the window.