A person or company who advertises as a carrier of the goods of anyone who wishes to use his services (or in the case of a passenger carrier, any persons who wish to use his services), without restriction, as long as he has space for the goods or persons.
Because a common carrier is bound by the “common law obligations” and is strictly liable for any loss of or damage to goods that he carries (effectively making him the insurer of goods in his care), very few common carriers operate in the modern shipping industry.
