Inter-Club Agreement

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Recently, Lloyd’s Maritime Law Newsletter reported on a recent arbitration award in which Reed Smith acted, regarding the requirements for notice under the 1996 Inter-Club Agreement (ICA), as amended in 2011.

The decision concerned a notice that, on the face of it, bore no resemblance to a usual ICA notice as it: a) was given by Charterers prior to the cargo being discharged and hence cargo interests becoming aware of the damage, let alone asserting a cargo claim; b) did not say it was an ICA notice; c) primarily concerned Owners and Charterers arranging a joint survey at discharge; and d) did not contain certain mandatory information prescribed by the ICA.
Continue Reading Notice requirements to prevent the time bar under the Inter Club Agreement

Readers will recall from Reed Smith’s recent blog that concerns have been raised regarding common Inter-Club Agreement (ICA) incorporation clauses.

A London Tribunal, in a recent arbitral award in which Reed Smith acted, held in favour of Reed Smith’s client that a traditional ICA incorporation clause incorporated the entire ICA, including clause 9 (i.e. the entitlement to security).…

Continue Reading ICA Incorporation Clauses: An update

Last week, the International Group of P & I Clubs published a recommended Inter-Club Agreement (ICA) incorporation clause.

It is commonplace for charterparties to incorporate the ICA as a contract term.  For decades, ICA incorporation clauses have been considered relatively uncontroversial. However, the recent London Arbitration 18/18 decision has thrown the cat amongst the pigeons; the Tribunal found the effect of the ICA incorporation clause in that charterparty was to incorporate, or contractually apply, those parts of the ICA dealing with apportionment but not clause 9 which deals with the provision of security.…

Continue Reading ICA Incorporation Clauses

TRANSGRAIN SHIPPING (SINGAPORE) PTE LTD v YANGTZE NAVIGATION (HONG KONG) CO LTD [2016] EWHC 3132

This was an appeal from an LMAA arbitration award, considering the true construction of clause 8(d) of the Inter-Club Agreement 1996 (“ICA”); specifically, whether the meaning of the term “act” in the phrase “act or neglect” should be restricted to a culpable act.

The dispute concerned a trip time charter where the charterers (also the shippers) had, for their own purposes, ordered the ship to wait off the discharge port for over four months before discharging the cargo. During this time part of the cargo was damaged due to overheating, which was found by the Tribunal to have been caused by a combination of the prolonged delay at the discharge port and the inherent nature of the cargo.…

Continue Reading Culpability and Clause 8(d) of the Inter-Club Agreement – The Yangtze Xing Hua

London Arbitration 3/13

The vessel was chartered on the NYPE 1996 form, which incorporated the Inter Club Agreement (ICA). Following discharge of a cargo of bagged wheat flour, cargo interests alleged that the cargo was damaged and in part shortlanded, and claimed against Charterers for US$187,000.60. US$134,222.54, i.e. 72%, of the claim related to short…

The recent decision of the Commercial Court in the “Genius Star 1” [2011] EWHC 3083 confirms that where there are multiple and conflicting time bar provisions in a charterparty, the Inter-Club Agreement (“ICA”) two-year limitation will prevail.  The judge placed weight on the provision in clause (2) of the ICA 1996 that “the terms of…