Ardennes, The [1951] 1 KB 55
For education purposes only

Spanish exporters of mandarin oranges shipped a cargo of them in the defendants’ vessel in reliance on an oral promise by the shipowners’ agent, made on or about November 20, 1947, that the vessel would go straight to London. It is therefore was assumed by the shippers that vessel will arrive at London before 30 November 1947.
After loading the plaintiffs’ cargo, the shipowners’ agent issued to the shippers a bill of lading containing the following terms among others:
"Received for shipment in apparent good order and condition ... in and upon the steamship called the Ardennes or upon any other steamship substituted or following with liberty to call any port or ports for the purpose of receiving and delivering coals, cargo or passengers or for any other purpose whatsoever ... and bound for London the undernoted goods said to be three thousand cases of mandarin oranges, 90,000 kgs.…
2. The owners are to be at liberty to carry the said goods to their port of destination by the above or other steamer or steamers, ship or ships, or railway ... proceeding by any route and whether directly or indirectly to such port, and in doing so to carry the goods beyond their port of destination, and so tranship or land and store the goods either on shore or afloat and reship and forward the same at the owners’ expense but at merchant’s risk …".
Instead of sailing direct to London, the vessel went first to Antwerp, where 374 cases of the plaintiffs’ mandarins were unloaded and left behind together with other cargo consigned to Antwerp. She arrived at the Port of London on December 4, 1947, where the remaining 2,626 cases were unloaded on December 5. Of the 374 cases unloaded at Antwerp, 362 cases were delivered in London by another ship on December 15, and the remaining 12 cases were lost.
As a result, when the