As of April 2023, ship collision cases now require electronic track data (“ETD”) to be provided in court by one, not both parties, as technology advances in this area.
Continue Reading Collision Statements of Case – what must you disclose and when?
Introduction
At nautical college mariners are taught about the importance of communication, particularly in emergency situations. Similar to the tale of Goldilocks, the trainers teach you, not too much, not too little, just enough. This is drilled into seafarers in all their courses such as firefighting, sea survival, Bridge Resource Management etc. But it must be remembered that communication goes two ways. A Master on a ship that is experiencing an emergency is often communicating with a person who could be many time zones away and it may be that person may not actually have any marine experience, so explaining the situation can be a difficult and time consuming event. It is also not something that is commonly practised in drills, unlike the physical donning of suits and practising with a fire hose for example, even though it is a crucial part of the emergency process.
Continue Reading The Crucial Role of the DPA in Casualty Response
In these unprecedented times of global shutdown, the shipping industry has been forced to move rapidly into the digital age. Vessels still require their statutory surveys and the clock does not stop just because the surveyors are unable to fly out to a vessel. This has forced flag states and Recognised Organisations (ROs) to develop their own procedures for remote surveys/inspections.
Remote surveys/inspections were already in use before COVID-19 – Lloyd’s Register performed one in five of its surveys without attending the ship – but their use has increased considerably. In March 2020 the number of complex remote surveys performed by Lloyd’s Register increased by 25 per cent. As resources continue to remain limited, remote surveys/inspections will be an increasingly utilised tool from the suite of options available to flag states and ROs.
Continue Reading Remote surveys – the future?