Top 10 Transport Headlines from Asia Pacific The recent decision of the New South Wales Court of Appeal in Rail Corporation New South Wales v Fluor Australia Pty Ltd & Alpcross Pty Ltd [2009] NSWCA 344 provides a useful example of the duties owed between contracting parties to each other. The recent case of “Qenos Pty Limited v Ship ‘APL Sydney’” [2009] FCA 1090 throws light on the issues of consequential loss claims for pure economic loss and the meaning of ‘infringement of rights’ under the Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims 1976. When one looks at the current huzzle and buzzle around privatization of infrastructure in India, it is difficult to imagine that just about six years back, privatization was virtually unknown in India. The story started with the Road sector in the late 1990’s but that too initially was not under the BOT Model. The project was funded by the Government through a 1% cess on diesel. Consequential loss claims for pure economic loss are subject to a fund established under the Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims 1976 The time charterer of a bulk carrier sued a shipbroker which had mistakenly represented that it acted on behalf of a prominent exporter. The time charterer succeeded in claims for breach of warranty of authority, and of sections 52 and 53(bb) of the "Trade Practices Act". In the case of “Leonie’s Travel Pty Ltd v International Air Transport Association, Qantas Airways Limited & Ors” [2009] FCA 280, Justice Moore in the Federal Court of Australia was required to consider a challenge by a group of travel agents to the calculation of commissions they were paid. India is at the threshold of emerging as an economic power. However, it is recognised that infrastructure holds the key to this transformation. The law relating to bills of lading is codified in chapter IV of the Maritime Code of the People's Republic of China (the "Maritime Code") which came into effect as of 1 July 1993. The decision reinforces the need for an owner to move quickly and clearly to terminate a demise charter in circumstances where the charter has "gone bad". On 12 May 2009, Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan, guided by advice from Infrastructure Australia, unveiled the Rudd Government’s commitment to outlay $8.4 billion over the coming years for transport infrastructure. | 
