CARRIAGE OF LIVESTOCK BY SEA ACCORDING TO TURKISH COMMERCIAL CODE

Abstract

With the import of livestock from abroad by Turkey, the transportation of live animals came to the public agenda again and gained importance. Due to the high transportation costs, livestock transportation is generally carried out by sea and by vessels carrying livestock. This also leads to the possibility of transporting all kinds of livestock. It is widely used for the carriage of certain animal species such as “cow, ox, buffalo and cattle” by sea transport. In practice, road transport is generally preferred for the carriage of \"race horses, pets or endangered animals\". Legally, livestock carriage is regulated by international conventi-ons and national legislation, as in other maritime affairs. Uniformity is also ensured to a great extent by international conventions. However, in these regulations, exception provisions regarding the transportation of live animals were also included and no detailed regulation was made. In the 4th Book of the Turkish Commercial Code, articles 1243 to 1245 are regulated and when it comes to the transportation of live animals, it is subject to mandatory provisions and the liability principles are regulated in detail in various articles. For this reason, provisions contrary to the mandatory provisions cannot be placed on the charter party. It has been stated by the legislator that while making this regulation, the special risks that live animal transportation carries within itself are also taken into consideration. For this reason, the way of transporting live animals and the provisions of liability are also important. In this study, the characteristics arising from the transportation of livestock will be explained and the responsibility of the carrier will be partially addressed, although it is kept apart from the mandatory provisions.