Excepted Perils

Excepted perils are the catalogue of seventeen events in Article IV Rule 2 of the Hague-Visby Rules for which the carrier is not liable, running from perils of the sea, fire, and act of God, through the error-in-navigation defense, to the catch-all in Rule 2(q) covering any cause without the carrier’s actual fault. The carrier bears the burden of bringing the loss within an exception and of showing it exercised due diligence to make the ship seaworthy before the voyage, since an unseaworthiness that causes the loss defeats the exception.