## Facts

- J.R.J. Enterprises, Inc. (JRJ), a New Jersey fruit importer, owned a shipment of 5,280 boxes of mangoes to be carried from Guayaquil, Ecuador to New York City.
- JRJ contracted with South Pacific Shipping Co. Ltd. (South Pacific) and Ecuadorian Line, Inc. (Ecuadorian Line) (together, defendants) for carriage aboard the M/V Duncan Island.
- South Pacific issued a bill of lading (identified in the opinion as Bill of Lading No. SOPH 021087163012) calling for carriage in a sealed refrigerated container with the reefer set at 8°C.
- The shipper, Inverhispec, S.A., boxed and loaded the mangoes into the container before the carrier took custody; the container was described as clean, dry, and free of odors, then sealed and tendered to defendants.
- The container was loaded aboard the M/V Duncan Island on November 13, 2009 and arrived in New York on November 22, 2009.
- After delivery, JRJ found that some mangoes showed black and brown spotting and claimed the damage resulted from defendants’ failure to maintain proper temperature during carriage and until delivery.
- JRJ sued in the Southern District of New York under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9(h), asserting a maritime cargo-damage claim governed by the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act (COGSA).
- Defendants moved for summary judgment to dismiss the complaint and sought judgment on South Pacific’s counterclaim for unpaid freight charges.

## Issues

1. Whether JRJ established a prima facie COGSA cargo-damage case, including proof that the mangoes were delivered to the carrier in good order when the shipper loaded them into a sealed container.
2. Whether JRJ raised a genuine dispute that defendants’ acts or omissions—especially temperature control during carriage—caused the spotting, given defendants’ reefer and voyage records showing the set point was maintained.
3. Whether South Pacific was entitled to judgment as a matter of law on its counterclaim for unpaid freight.

## Decision

- The court granted defendants’ Rule 56 motion and dismissed JRJ’s cargo-damage claims with prejudice.
- The court held JRJ failed to meet its initial COGSA burden to prove the mangoes were delivered to the carrier in good condition, because the shipper stuffed and sealed the container and a clean bill of lading did not establish the internal condition of the fruit.
- The court also found that, even if JRJ could clear the prima facie step, defendants’ evidence (including reefer records showing the container was set and kept at 8°C) was not rebutted by competent proof of a temperature failure or other carrier fault causing the spotting.
- The court entered judgment for South Pacific on its counterclaim for unpaid freight.

## Legal Principles

- Summary judgment is proper when no genuine dispute of material fact exists; the nonmovant must point to admissible evidence, not speculation or conclusory assertions.
- Under COGSA, the cargo claimant bears the initial burden to show delivery to the carrier in good order and outturn in damaged condition; the burden then shifts to the carrier to show an excepted cause or due care, and may shift back to the claimant on causation and fault.
- For goods shipped in a sealed container loaded by the shipper, a clean bill of lading generally proves only apparent external condition, not the internal condition of the contents; the claimant must supply additional proof of good condition at loading when the alleged damage could stem from pre-loading causes.
- In refrigerated-cargo disputes, contemporaneous reefer logs and related voyage records can defeat a negligence theory at summary judgment when they show the set point was maintained and the claimant offers no reliable evidence of a deviation tied to the loss.
- A carrier’s right to freight under the contract of carriage may be enforced by counterclaim even when the cargo claimant’s damage claim is dismissed.

## Conclusion

The Southern District of New York granted summary judgment to South Pacific and Ecuadorian Line in JRJ’s COGSA action over spotted mangoes, ruling that JRJ did not prove the fruit was delivered to the carrier in good condition in a shipper-loaded sealed container and did not produce evidence that any temperature mismanagement caused the damage; the court also entered judgment for South Pacific on its counterclaim for unpaid freight.


J.R.J. Enterprises, Inc v. M/V Duncan Island, 2012 WL 1450421 (2012)