The British Columbia Court of Appeal says a Greek shipping firm accused of operating a vessel that spilled thousands of litres of bunker fuel into Vancouver’s English Bay was not properly served a summons. The ruling delivered Tuesday means the trial for Alassia NewShips Management Inc., which began last month, is over unless a new summons is served. Alassia and the vessel MV Marathassa were charged in 2017 with 10 environmental related offences, including alleged violations under the Fisheries Act and the Canadian Environment Protection Act, following a Transport Canada ...

On 12 January 2018, Singapore’s Minister of State for Transport, Lam Pin Min, launched Singapore’s new “Sea Transport Industry Transformation Map.” Considering the maritime industry’s pivotal role in Singapore’s economy, and the fierce competition between global ports, Singapore’s government is determined to ensure the country remains a leading maritime trading hub. The strategic blueprint aims to create over 5,000 new jobs in the maritime sector and grow its “value-add” by S$4.5bn (US$3.50bn) by 2025, by developing technological innovation, workforce talent, and connectivity between maritime industry actors. The strategic blueprint will ...

On March 8, 2018, the U.S. Department of Energy announced a sale of seven million barrels of sweet crude oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). Offers are due by a specified time on March 21. The delivery periods vary between May 1 and May 31. The SPR was created in 1975 in reaction to the 1973 oil embargo as an emergency source of oil meant to replace net U.S. imports for a specified period of time. Standard Jones Act terms apply to the sale, meaning that the Jones ...

“Technology on the march. A huge step forward for shipping, technology is changing many aspects of our personal and work lives. The challenge is to benefit from the positive aspects and minimise the negative.” MV Yara Birkeland – First Zero Emission Autonomous container Carrier, Maritime HR Association website Over the last two decades the marine industry has been led by innovative change, with crews changing size and skills to adapt to new technologies. The most recent proposals in relation to digitalised energy management, onshore control centres and even unmanned ships ...

On 24 July 2017, the Upper House of the Parliament of India passed the Admiralty (Jurisdiction and Settlement of Maritime Claims) Bill, 2017. The President of India has given assent to the Bill. The Bill is now the Admiralty (Jurisdiction and Settlement of Maritime Claims) Act, 2017, and Mr. Harsh Pratap, Mumbai based Advocate from HP Law chambers, advises that the Act will come into force from 1 April 2018. The new Act repeals old statutes such as (a) The Admiralty Courts Act, 1861; (b) The Colonial Courts of Admiralty ...

A recent decision has settled a dispute that arose between cargo sellers/charterers, and cargo buyers as to who was liable for the consequences of delay caused by shipowners not receiving freight by the agreed date, where the buyers had committed, but failed, under the sale contract, to pre-pay the freight. Facts Sellers entered into a voyage charterparty with owners of a vessel, on 8 September 2014, for the carriage of 3,000 m.t. of Ukrainian feed barley from Kiliya, Ukraine to Benghazi, Libya, under CFR (cost and freight) terms of Incoterms ...

In the matter of the “RENOS”, Mr Justice Knowles addressed a number of issues, at first instance, regarding the calculation of total loss of the vessel and of an owner’s right to abandon the vessel in constructive total loss cases. Following the judgment, handed down on 1 July 2016, insurers appealed. In a recent ruling by Lord Justice Hamblen, the first instance decision was unanimously confirmed by the Court of Appeal, and the insurers’ appeal was dismissed. Facts The “RENOS”[1] was on a laden voyage in the Red Sea when ...

On February 15, 2018, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a significant opinion in which the Court reversed a district court’s holding that an “assisting” tug was part of the lead tug’s “tow” according to the tort principle known as the “dominant mind” doctrine. Specifically, three tugs, the M/V MISS DOROTHY, the M/V ANGELA RAE, and the M/V FREEDOM were collectively navigating the Mississippi River with one barge in tow when the MISS DOROTHY allided with a bridge fender system. As a result of the ...

KAI SHIPPING LAW NEWS The Comité Maritime International, (CMI), the international body responsible for drafting the majority of international maritime conventions since its inception in 1897 – has for a number of years been aware that there are challenges relating to the international recognition of the judicial sale of ships. Judicial sales are realities which occur when ship owners fail to pay their creditors. Creditors of a vessel are diverse, ranging from shipbuilders and financiers, both of whom are often the mortgagees of a vessel to various service providers – ...

The European Commission (the Commission) has [today] published its decision in relation to the acquisition of Orient Overseas (International) Limited (including its subsidiary Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL)) by COSCO Shipping (COSCO). The merger was cleared by the Commission on 5 December 2017 and the full text can be found . Relevant markets The main competitive overlap between the parties is in relation to deep-sea container liner shipping services and as expected the Commission has followed its previous decisions in relation to this market – that the product market is ...

Tanker operator SeaWorld Management & Trading will pay a $2.25 million penalty for not recording the discharge of oil and garbage from its products Panamax Sea Faith off the Texas coast, according to the US Justice Department. The Greek company will also be under three years probation during which all its ships calling US ports will be required to implement a “robust” environmental compliance plan, the DOJ said in a statement late Monday. “According to the plea agreement filed in court [Monday], the case started after the [US] Coast Guard ...

Watson, Farley & Williams (“WFW”) has advised ING Bank N.V., Singapore Branch, as facility agent for a syndicate of international lenders comprising ING Bank, Danish Ship Finance, Development Bank of Japan, Oversea- Chinese Banking Corporation Limited and Société Générale on the provision of a US$150m secured term loan facility to BW LPG Holding Limited (“BW LPG”). BW LPG will use the proceeds of the facility to finance its general corporate and working capital. The loan is specifically tailored to provide flexibility for BW LPG so that the company can sell, ...

As of 31 January 2018, shipowners must have liability insurance covering up to four months of wages and provisions, medical care and repatriation costs for all seafarers working on vessels calling at UAE Ports or anchoring in the UAE’s territorial waters or Exclusive Economic Zone. This is in line with the requirements of the Maritime Labour Convention of 2006. This new mandatory insurance requirement extends to any operator, manager and bareboat charterer as well as the registered owner of the vessel. It applies to all seafarers on UAE and foreign ...

Shipping firm APL and a container ship captain have claimed trial to charges of importing nine Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) armoured vehicles to Hong Kong without the required licence, Apple Daily HK reported on Thursday (Feb 22). Pan Xuejun, a 39-year-old Chinese national, was the captain of the vessel belonging to his employer APL Co. Private Limited which was transporting the nine Singapore-made Terrex infantry carriers back to Singapore after a military exercise in Taiwan in November 2016. The ship stopped in Hong Kong on Nov 23, 2016, without an ...

Ince & Co was instructed by longstanding client, Aegean Marine Petroleum Network (AMPNI), the world’s largest independent physical bunker supplier, on its approx. $367 Million acquisition of HEC Europe. The acquisition signed on 20 February and closing is subject to customary conditions. Consideration for the acquisition included a mixture of accounts receivable assignments, cash and/or notes, the assumption of debt and the issue of 33percent of the equity in AMPNI. The acquisition of HEC is an important strategic move for AMPNI in line with the evolving need for green products ...