Shipping – Cargo. A carrier had the legal burden of proving that it had taken due care to protect the goods from damage, including due care to protect the cargo from damage arising from inherent characteristics. The Supreme Court further held that, to rely on the exception for inherent vice, the carrier had to show either that: (i) it had taken reasonable care of the cargo, but the damage had occurred nonetheless; or (ii) whatever reasonable steps might have been taken to protect the cargo from damage would have failed in the face of its inherent propensities.