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Introduction

 The subject we will talk about in our paper has titled: Carriage of goods by sea. More specifically we will make a reference in the history of sea transportation from the ancient Phoenicians and Greeks to great major shipping powers like US, referring also the kinds of goods transported. Furthermore, we will mention some laws concerning the carriage of goods by sea, what kind of documents ( bill of landing, commercial invoice etc.) are being used for proper transportation, and the types of vessels necessary for this kind of transportation.

Moreover, we will make a brief reference to some of the most important ports in the world for shipping transportation, the concept of risk concerning the transportation with various transportation means, and what are the obligations of the seller and buyer concerning the shipping documents.

After that we will present some statistical data as it concerns the load and unload of some goods from and for the port of Thessaloniki, and the most important exports to the countries of the European Union. Finally, as a general conclusion we will mention our personal opinion about the future of the carriage of goods by sea, based of course to the data mentioned in our paper.

HISTORY

The history of the shipping transportation begins with the activities of the Phoenicians, concerning the transportation of goods in the Mediterranean, and it continued with the shipping transportation activities of the ancient Greeks and Romans, who were the great shipping powers of that era through the middle ages. Around the period of 1300 and 1500, the Venetian played an important role with the own of a huge merchant fleet that served the interests of the merchants traders and the city-state exclusively. In the year of 1600 until 1650 the Dutch play a crucial role in the shipping industry, operating a globe-circling tramp service for merchants of western Europe(MICROSOFT ENCARTA 96).

LAWS CONCERNING THE CARRIAGE OF GOODS BY SEA

As Roy Goode says in his book Commercial Law: "it is no exaggeration to say that the transportation of goods is at once the most important and the most complex of all the fields of activity with which commercial law is concerned" (p 1045).

The necessity of many countries to create some laws for the shipping transportation was obvious from the ancient years. Because some countries had no jurisdiction over the seas, they thought that it could be better for their nations to create some agreements, proposing some methods of dealing with ships, crews, cargoes and disputes (MICROSOFT ENCARTA 96).

The first agreements were based in customs and became part of the Roman civil law. Later on, in the Middle Ages, some new laws were formulated to deal with disputes. The most known laws were the Laws of Oleron and the Black Book of the Admiralty. Maritime law also recognises and enforces contracts and awards damages for failure to fulfil them(MICROSOFT ENCARTA 96).

Because the growth of the trade was increasing, carriers became more economically powerful. This had as a result many carriers not to include ...