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Pacific Pearl Co Limited v Osios David Shipping Inc [2022] EWCA Civ 798

The Court of Appeal (“CA”) has overturned the decision of Justice Teare that security tendered under the Admiralty Solicitor Group form ASG 2 (Collision Jurisdiction Agreement) (“CJA”) needed to be subjectively acceptable to the offeree. Instead the CA has determined that it is sufficient that it be objectively acceptable.

The case

The decision followed the earlier ruling by Sir Nigel Teare (as reported in Lloyd’s Law Reports, [2022] 1 Lloyd’s Rep. 261) in an action brought by owners of the Panamax Alexander (“PA”) against the owners of Osios David (“OD”), with whom they collided, alleging breach of the CJA clause C. This clause provides that “Each party will provide security in respect of the other’s claim in a form reasonably satisfactory to the other.”

The owners of the PA proposed security which contained a sanctions clause (the scheme of the ASG 2 is that it is expected to be used with a plain security in the form of ASG 1). This was rejected by the owners of the OD on the basis that it was not reasonably satisfactory to them. In the first instance it was held that such security from a prominent International P&I Club must be objectively reasonable but that there was nothing in the CJA that compelled the recipient to accept it and that they were at liberty to seek better security elsewhere including by arrest.Continue Reading Court of Appeal overturns judgement on acceptable security in collision matter

The question of whether COVID-19 would forever change the world as we know it remains to be answered. For the time being, however, the pandemic has certainly changed the way we live and conduct business. In an effort to adjust to the current requirements of strict social distancing, we have had to be creative and use technology to our advantage. For instance, in order to sustain the administration of justice, we have had to allow virtual hearings to become the new norm.

In April 2020, Richard Gunn (partner), Elli Aidini (associate) and Katherine Varney (trainee) were involved in a three-day virtual arbitration hearing via Zoom. The experience was unique for all. Although initially there were concerns about the confidentiality of the process and the ability of the parties to overcome technical difficulties, the hearing was concluded successfully. In this article, we will attempt to share our experience of a virtual hearing and recommendations for conducting such hearings in the future.
Continue Reading Preparing and attending a virtual arbitration hearing

In a survey conducted by Reed Smith in the first half of 2018, industry participants predicted that big data analytics will be one of the most significant drivers of change in the shipping industry over the next five years. In addition, for the same five-year period, the survey revealed that the shipping industry considers the development of automated processes and functions on board vessels to be the biggest driver of efficiency in shipping.

The collection, analysis and management of huge volumes of unstructured data (i.e., big data), such as data on voyage performance, ship structure, machinery, fuel consumption, traffic, cargo and the weather, are expected to provide valuable insights into the operation of ships, and uncover hidden patterns as well as market trends. The analysis of big data will also allow the prediction of likely outcomes in certain voyages. In addition, it is likely to reduce costs, as the industry will be able to identify more efficient ways of doing business; it will allow decisions to be made more quickly; and it will make shipping safer by reducing risks.
Continue Reading Big data analytics and autonomous vessels – when will legislation catch up?