In light of the recent attacks on tankers in Fujairah and the Gulf of Oman, and rising tensions in the area generally, the club has issued the following guidance which discusses club cover, risk mitigation and legal implications on contractual issues that members may face. This follows our web alert of 17 June (which can be viewed in the link on the right). Club cover The club’s rules contain no definition of (or exclusion for) piracy and armed robbery. Therefore, the third-party liabilities insured by the club remain covered when ...

A group of 14 intrepid cyclists from Britannia’s managers, Tindall Riley, circumnavigated the Isle of Wight on Friday 19 July to raise money for The Brain Tumour Charity. Covering a total distance of 105 km (65 miles), the course involved a number of testing hills totalling 1,300m of climbing. The Brain Tumour Charity is the largest of its kind in the UK, dedicated to funding research, raising awareness, reducing diagnosis times and providing support and information for people with a brain tumours, their families and friends. Most of the riders ...

The country’s maritime administration has approved Zurich-based Swiss Reinsurance Company or Swiss Re, whose liability cover against risks, including oil spills and collisions for foreign ships calling at India’s ports, will be accepted by the port authorities. Swiss Re, the world’s second-largest reinsurer, has partnered with Singapore-based EF Marine Pte Ltd to underwrite a so-called Protection & Indemnity (P&I) cover against maritime claims. The Swiss Re-EF Marine partnership joins a list of 13 other marine underwriters that were approved by the Directorate General of Shipping, according to a new rule ...

To achieve compliance with the sulphur cap, simply switching to a low sulphur fuel at January 2020 will not be enough. High sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) is primarily based on residual fuel and these tend to stick to the inside of fuel tanks and pipelines forming layers of sludge and sediments. The accumulated layers of existing sludge in the fuel tanks and pipelines may contaminate the new fuel loaded, rendering the fuel non-compliant and pushing emissions above the 0.50% sulphur cap. Cleaning this out will require exhaustive efforts – either ...

Following a series of oil tanker attacks in the Middle East causing insurance costs to skyrocket, shipowners are keeping away from the region’s refuelling hub, to the benefit of another Asian market – Singapore. According to a report by Reuters, many tankers plying the East Asia – Middle East routes are choosing to refuel in Singapore instead, while others are choosing smaller bunkering ports in India and Sri Lanka. The report added that a ton of 380-centistoke (cst) high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) in Fujairah has slipped from an average of ...

An industry first – Leading marine underwriter Lampe & Schwartze join the advisory board of the Maritime Cyber Emergency Response Team (MCERT) and announce their new Ship Owner’s Marine Cyber Cover (SOMCC) covering exclusion Clause 380. Leading marine underwriter Lampe & Schwartze has joined the advisory board of the Maritime Cyber Emergency Response Team (MCERT). Today’s announcement took place at a reception for insurance brokers and vessel operators hosted by Lampe & Schwartze at the Hafen Club in Hamburg. Guest speakers included Norton Rose Fulbright, Verein Hanseatischer Transportversicherer (VHT), and ...

Ince has today announced that it is moving its insurance practice from Aldgate Tower to the Lloyd’s building in the heart of the London insurance market. The well-established insurance team consisting of Partners, Consultants, Associates and Trainees will serve the insurance industry covering all aspects of insurance, reinsurance, maritime insurance and commercial disputes. The office will allow space for this team’s continued growth both in terms of numbers and practice specialists. Renowned specialist in insurance and reinsurance law, Ince’s long heritage means it is well placed to advise professionals across ...

West of England P&I Club celebrated the launch of its new identity in style with a reception at its new City of London offices. The open house event, held on Friday July 12th, brought together club Members, brokers, reinsurers and other International Group Clubs from around London and further afield. The Club’s new contemporary brand identity was on display around the Creechurch Place premises along with corporate literature featuring the new logo and brand styling. Tom Bowsher, Group CEO, said: “We are delighted that so many of the people who ...

The Commercial Court dismissed a shipowners’ claim for hire exceeding USD 4.5 million for the period that the vessel ‘Eleni P’ was seized and detained by Somali pirates in the Arabian sea. In this decision the court applied fundamental principles of contractual construction in a time charter context. The vessel was captured by pirates during a sub-time charter trip as it navigated the Arabian Sea and held for seven months. The owners issued arbitration proceedings for approximately USD 5.6 million, the majority of which was for hire whilst the vessel ...

We are pleased to advise that we are now an approved insurance provider for the purpose of the Indian Merchant Shipping (Regulation of Entry of Ships into Ports, Anchorages and Offshore facilities) Rules, 2012. The evidence of the approval can be found on the website of the Directorate General of Shipping (DG Shipping). Why Is This Approval Important? The Merchant Shipping (Regulation of Entry of Ships into Ports, Anchorages and Offshore facilities) Rules, 2012 came into force on 20 April 2012. From that day on it is required that that ...

On 28 June 2019, the US Coast Guard published a new procedure for notification of non-availability of compliant fuel. Effective as of 30 June 2019 all owners and operators operating vessels in the US ECA zones who are unable to acquire complaint bunkers must issue a Fuel Non Availability Report (“FONAR”) to the US Coast Guard Captain of the Port (“COTP”). What was a collaborative effort as between USCG and the US Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) is no longer tenable. Although the 2011 Memorandum of Understanding remains in place it ...

In the event of a casualty, one of the first issues for the owners and salvors of a mega box ship to grapple with will be to identify a place or port of refuge willing and able to accept the damaged ship and cargo. This article looks at the potential difficulties. Issues that can make identifying a place or port of refuge difficult include the risk of the ship sinking in a fairway or harbour and causing substantial economic loss, the size of the ship and height of the container ...

A charterer failed to present cargo shipments under a long-term contract of affreightment (COA) for shipments of iron ore pellets from Brazil. When a dam burst at the iron ore mine, the charterer sought to rely on a mutual exceptions / force majeure clause to avoid responsibility for all subsequent shipments. However, the charterer would not have been ready and able to supply these cargoes even if the dam had not collapsed and so it would have defaulted under the COA anyway. Questions on appeal ​​Could the charterer rely on ...

The increasing size of mega box ships presents a number of important technical challenges in a casualty situation that must be properly considered when assessing and dealing with the ship, in order to minimise loss and damage. Condition of ship In any casualty situation, it is vital in the early stages to understand the ship’s condition. Information such as the ship’s draft, list angle, trim, condition of tanks and cargo, and type of seabed (if aground) are key. This information can be provided by the ship’s crew and will be ...

We refer to our alert “It is once again time to slow down for whales in Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada” of 1 July 2019. As of 9 July 2019, all speed restrictions in Gulf of St. Lawrence apply to vessels of 13 m or more in overall length, whilst they previously applied only to vessels 20 m or longer. In addition, the following changes have been made to the zones in which the speed restrictions apply: • The static speed restriction zone has been expanded further east, beyond the ...