Clean on Board? ‘Tai Prize’ Court of Appeal Publications Lorna Watkin Published: August 09, 2022 Contact author Download article pdf In January 2021 The English Court of Appeal, The Tai Prize [2021] EWCA Civ 87, has upheld the 2020 decision of the High Court  and in doing so restated established principles in relation to representations made in the cargo description on a Bill of Lading.  Summary of the Facts  The dispute arose between Time Charterers, Noble Chartering Inc (‘Noble’) and Voyage Charterers, Priminds Shipping (HK) Co Ltd (‘Priminds’) over a cargo of Brazilian soyabeans discharged in China.  The B/L was issued ‘ Shipped at the Port of Loading in apparent good order and condition ’ without any reservations. The B/L incorporated the Hague Rules by operation of a clause on the reverse side.  Head Owners settled a claim with Chinese Receivers for over US$1 million and Noble paid US$500,000 to settle their indemnity claim under the Time Charter. Noble then claimed an indemnity from Priminds.  The Arbitration  The Arbitrator made a finding in fact that the cargo damage was due to pre-shipment condition, which would have been reasonably apparent to the Shippers but would not have been reasonably apparent to the Master during the loading operation.  The arbitrator’s decision was that by presenting a clean B/L to the Master the Shippers (as Priminds’ agent) had warranted that the cargo was in good order and condition. Therefore, they impliedly agreed to indemnify Noble against the consequences of the inaccuracy of the statement of apparent good order.  The High Court  The High Court considered only questions of law arising out of the Arbitration award, being obliged to accept the findings of fact. The Arbitration decision was overturned.  The High Court stated that the presentation of the clean B/L for signature was merely an ‘invitation’ to the Master, from the Shippers, to issue a clean B/L if the master wa