The recent Court of Appeal decision in Smit Salvage BV & Ors v Luster Maritime SA & Anr (The ‘Ever Given’), illustrates the challenges of negotiating contracts in rapidly changing environments, particularly within the maritime domain.
Continue Reading The Ever Given Court of Appeal decision unveils contractual complexities in salvage agreements
Collision Statements of Case – what must you disclose and when?
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.
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Court of Appeal overturns judgement on acceptable security in collision matter
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 Crucial Role of the DPA in Casualty Response
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.
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Smart as ever, the Supreme Court provides clarity on the crossing rules
On 19 February 2021 the Supreme Court delivered its very first judgment in relation to a collision action. While the Supreme Court was only established in 2009, it is almost half a century since the highest appellate court in England and Wales has decided such a matter. In this eagerly anticipated decision, the Court had to consider the application of the International Regulations For Preventing Collisions At Sea 1972 (the ‘COLREGS’), in relation to a collision between the 7.030 TEU container ship Ever Smart and the laden 153,044 DWT VLCC Alexandra 1 off the dredged access channel to Jebel Ali in the late evening of 11 February 2015.
Continue Reading Smart as ever, the Supreme Court provides clarity on the crossing rules
Singapore’s accession to the International Salvage Convention
Singapore’s accession to the International Salvage Convention is an important step, which will align the city state with other prominent maritime jurisdictions such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, and China.
When the Salvage Convention becomes part of Singapore law under amendments to be made to the Singapore Merchant Shipping Act (1), it will enshrine into Singapore law a salvor’s right to recover expenses they have incurred in their attempts to prevent or minimize environmental damage, even if they are unable to salve the vessel or where the value remaining in the salved fund is insufficient. This type of recovery is referred to as “special compensation,” which is available under article 14 of the Salvage Convention and protects salvors against the traditional consequences of “No Cure, No Pay,” which depended entirely on the successful salvage of the maritime property. Article 14 is intended to incentivize salvors to invest and maintain the assets, in terms of salvage craft, equipment, and personnel, that are necessary to render prompt assistance to vessels in difficulty. This is vitally important, and mitigates against the risk of geographical regions having insufficient response capacity. Such a scenario could have a profoundly detrimental effect on local marine ecologies, particularly in the event of an oil spill. At a time when the number of professional salvors is declining, providing an assurance to salvors that they will not be left out of pocket is increasingly important.Continue Reading Singapore’s accession to the International Salvage Convention
Project MARTHA, crew fatigue and the implications for a vessel’s “seaworthiness”
In January of this year the findings of “Project MARTHA”, a three year study into the causes and effects of crew fatigue, were released – along with proposals as to how best to mitigate against the risks posed by crew fatigue. The study was conducted by a number of eminent academic institutions with extensive input from the shipping community.
The report serves as a timely reminder of the dangers associated with fatigue to those serving on board vessels, as well as those who own and operate them.
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