IN THIS ISSUE
1. Qatar Shipping Situation
2. Duties of A Yacht Insurance Broker
3. Complex Claims
4. Cruise Lines in Difficulties Trying to Appoint Counsel in Québec Small Claims Proceedings
5. Annals of Trucking–First Day on the Job
6. People and Places
FOB Network News
During the rest of 2017 the Publishers are looking to raise some external finance in order to take our efforts to the next level by supporting more marketing and programming people.
Some FOB Groups already have sponsors – for example JLT (P&I), Bloomfield Law (West Africa Maritime), Chalos (Criminalisation). the Publishers are also looking for sponsors for existing Groups for example Hull & Machinery, Salvage, Piracy, Maritime Singapore/Cyprus/Norway, Superyachts, Surveyors and Major Casualty Investigation.
In addition there is plenty of scope for possible new Groups such as War Risks, Multi-Modal Insurance, Energy Insurance and many geographical areas eg Maritime New Zealand/Germany to name but a few.
1. Please join FOB, and
2. Let us know if you would like a quote for sponsoring a Group
1. Qatar Shipping Situation
Things have certainly taken a turn. Qatar in these islands is thought of as a land of over flowing lpg wealth, a nation ruled by horse fancying absolute monarchs with a taste for ambitious projects and progressive causes. Why not hold a global football competition in the desert hot spot, for example. Or run a global TV news channel?
Our friends at Fichte & Co have drafted some guidance for shipping companies:-
http://fichtelegal.com/news/uae-saudi-bahrain-egypt-cut-ties-qatar-recent-developments/
And the people over at the Chartere’s P&I Club offer cogent advice in their circular:-
http://tinyurl.com/QatarSituation
2. Duties of A Yacht Insurance Broker
Jason P. Minkin of the Chicago-based firm of BatesCarey LLP has sent in a link to a article appearing in Superyacht News which examines a recent United States District Court for the Southern District of California case addressing whether the marine insurance broker owes a heightened duty to its yacht owner client in procuring a marine insurance policy that ultimately did not cover a total loss of the vessel. Certain Interested Underwriters at Lloyd’s, London v. Bear, LLC, Civ. No. 15-cv-630, 2017 WL 2180401 (S.D. Cal. May 17, 2017)
http://www.superyachtnews.com/business/procuring-a-superyachts-insurance-policy
3. Complex Claims
Matt Beasley of Cunningham Lindsey has sent in a copy of his firm’s complex claims review which includes the claims that resulted from the MV Modern Express incident in January 2016. The 164 meter long vehicle carrier began to list in rough seas in the Bay of Biscay en route from Gabon to Antwerp via Le Havre. The ship was listing by around 40 degrees and in danger of running aground on the French coast. After conditions improved, the salvage crew was able to connect the ship to a tug and tow the vessel to Bilbao.
Once in port, the firm’s adjusters persuaded all parties involved that they could salvage the timber on board and reduce insured losses. A suitable carrier was found to transport the timber to the original destination of Antwerp. The result was that most of the original orders were successfully fulfilled.
The 2017 Major and Complex Loss review can be found at:-
https://www.cunninghamlindsey.com/global/news/cunningham-lindsey-2017-major-and-complex-loss-review/
Note from Sarah Clayton, Events Manager
HFW is pleased to announce its Marine Insurance Week 2017.
Our week long programme of events is designed for those involved in marine insurance claims and includes a variety of seminars relevant to all lines of marine insurance (including hull, cargo, ports & terminals and liability). Marine Insurance Week 2017 will cover topics including the impact of the Arab Spring on insurers; managing claims in Latin America; detention and confiscation by authorities; polar navigation and the Polar Code; and the impact of supply chain insolvencies in the insurance market.
Presentations will take place at various times throughout each day allowing you the opportunity to choose the sessions you would most like to attend.
4. Cruise Lines in Difficulties Trying to Appoint Counsel in Québec Small Claims Proceedings
Nils Goeteyn and Jean-Marie Fontaine writing in the BLG Marine Bulletin comment:-
In two strikingly similar recent cases before the small claims division of the Court of Quebec, the court has held twice that the defendant shipping lines may not be represented by lawyers, as questions with respect to the application of Canadian maritime law and the interpretation of the Marine Liability Act are not considered to be complex questions of law under section 542 of the Québec Code of Civil Procedure. These cases are an illustration of the unyielding attitude of the small claims court towards parties being represented by attorneys, which directly affects non-resident cruise lines.
Read more here:-
http://blg.com/en/News-And-Publications/Publication_4956
5. Annals of Trucking–First Day on the Job
Courtesy of the Browser we read with pleasure this memoir by Finn Murphy which appeared in Literary Hub | 8th June where a long-distance driver tells of starting work in haulage, aged 18. Here is a flavour:-
TC Almy, the Callahan dispatcher, came down promptly at eight to hand out work assignments. Each assignment was on a clipboard attached to a vinyl case containing basic tools. On top was the bill of lading, which contained the vital information for the job: the address of the shipper, a listing of who was on the crew, the hourly billing rate, the destination address, and an estimate of how much time the move should take.
Moving companies like Callahan’s perform four categories of moving work: local, commercial, long-distance, and international. Callahan’s work was mostly local moving, which entails loading up someone’s house in the morning and then unloading in the afternoon at the new house. It takes the greatest toll on the body because you are handling stuff every working day. Long-haul drivers get plenty of days when they’re just sitting and driving; international moves are almost never time-sensitive, so the pace is easier; and commercial jobs—moving offices around—are mostly done with dollies and elevators. It’s the local stuff that eventually kills you or drives you to drink; more commonly, both.
http://lithub.com/the-worst-ever-first-day-on-the-job/
6. People and Places
Anastasios Papagiannopoulos, CEO of Common Progress has been elected President of BIMCO, the world’s largest international shipping association, with 2,100 members in more than 120 countries.
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Stewart Oades of the Good Group is taking up the role of Deputy Chairman to support current Chairman, John Rutherford, and Managing Director, Alan Platt, to oversee the next phase in the company’s long history before taking over as Group Chairman in May 2018. During his career, Oades has held senior management positions in Christian Salveson plc and Exel plc as well as serving as President of the Freight Transport Association (FTA). He has advisory experience with Marks and Spencer plc and previous Non-Executive Director experience with Clipper Group plc.
From the Avo Archive
The website of this newsletter contains all the editorial material since the inception of the Maritime Advocate as a print based quarterly in 1997 under the founding aegis of John Guy, Chris Hewer and Manfred Arnold. Readers can go to the site and search the database on the home page in its entirety. If you are looking for an old case, an old controversy or you would just like to see how many times you and your firm have featured in our annals feel free to access the archive. It is like this e-zine, free to Readers and we always appreciate the support of advertisers and sponsors.
Here we find an old and happier references to maritime matters in the Arabian Gulf area which appeared in the paper days in Back Issue 5 of October 1998:-
Dubai continues to develop maritime legal expertise
By Richard Price
LIKE much else in the business environment of the United Arab Emirates, the maritime laws are of relatively recent origin.
The UAE (and particularly Dubai) has a long and rich maritime and trading tradition, but it was not until 1970, with the Sharjah maritime law, that modern legislation sought to regulate and facilitate such activities. But the real milestone in UAE maritime law was reached in 1981, with the enactment of the federal maritime law.
The maritime law, which is based very largely on the maritime laws of Kuwait, Qatar and Oman, is now the source of eighty per cent of the statute law relevant to maritime transport in UAE waters. It is a comprehensive code covering the carriage of goods by sea (where Hague and Hague Visby Rules principles are applied), ownership, registration and mortgaging of ships, ship safety, pilotage and towage, charter parties, carriage of passengers by sea, collision and salvage, pollution, general average, ship arrest and liens, and marine insurance.
Many of its provisions are based on international conventions, or the maritime legislation of European and other Arab states, and are therefore fairly accessible to western maritime lawyers
.The UAE has acceded to the 1969 Civil Liability Convention and the 1971 Fund Convention, together with all relevant protocols.. The UAE is also about to enact a very sweeping environmental law, which will deal with both marine and non-marine pollution in a way which, it is hoped, will not conflict with the relevant international conventions including, of course, the CLC and Fund Convention.
A further indication of the UAE’s concern in this area was the rapid enactment in March 1998 of a ban on the carriage of oil products in barges not designed for that purpose. Another recent statutory development of note is the UAE’s accession to the 1976 Limitation Convention.
The UAE is essentially a civil law system, and judge-made law therefore has little, if any, formal role to play in developing substantive law. There is however a great deal of maritime litigation in the UAE courts.
UAE ports, and particularly those of Dubai, are amongst the busiest in the world.
The UAE courts are busy with shipping matters, too. They assert jurisdiction over all disputes relating to cargoes shipped from or to UAE ports, notwithstanding the presence of foreign jurisdiction clauses in bills of lading
The UAE courts have something of a reputation for being protective of cargo interests. It is certainly the case that they seem occasionally to interpret the . Hague/Hague-Visby provisions of the maritime law as though they were the Hamburg Rules.
But it is not all one way. There have been important recent decisions of the UAE courts which, for example, have upheld a carrier’s defences of fire and inherent vice, absolved a carrier from liability for damage to cargo caused by the relevant port authority, and even – in a very recent case – exempted a carrier from liability for delivery to a named bill of lading consignee without an original bill of lading.
With regard to port state control, it is understood that meetings of the Ministries of Commerce of the Gulf States have taken place to discuss a joint approach. As far as the ISM code is concerned, it is thought that the relevant port authorities are still awaiting instructions from the government and, in the meantime, are applying their own criteria as to acceptable vessels. However, the presence or absence of an ISM certificate of compliance is not at present such a criterion.
Clearly, both port state control and the ISM code are areas where it must be hoped that the UAE will act appropriately and in good time to ensure that the legal and regulatory maritime infrastructure remains as impressive as the physical infrastructure, and indeed meets the highest international standards expected of this important trading nation.
Richard Price is Gulf Managing Partner, Clifford Chance, Dubai
Laws of Life
Thanks to Paul Dixon for these:-
Murphy’s First Law for Wives:
If you ask your husband to pick up five items at the store and then you add one more as an afterthought, he will forget two of the first five.
Kauffman’s Paradox of the Corporation:
The less important you are to the corporation, the more your tardiness or absence is noticed.
The Salary Axiom:
The pay raise is just large enough to increase your taxes and just small enough to have no effect on your take-home pay.
Miller’s Law of Insurance:
Insurance covers everything except what happens.
First Law of Living:
As soon as you start doing what you always wanted to be doing, you’ll want to be doing something else.
Weiner’s Law of Libraries:
There are no answers, only cross-references.
Isaac’s Strange Rule of Staleness:
Any food that starts out hard will soften when stale.
Any food that starts out soft will harden when stale.
The Grocery Bag Law:
The candy bar you planned to eat on the way home from the market is always hidden at the bottom of the grocery bag.
Lampner’s Law of Employment:
When leaving work late, you will go unnoticed. When you leave work early, you will meet the boss in the parking lot.
A British Train Station
A week ago a new train station, named “Cambridge North”, opened in Cambridge, UK. Normally such an event would be far outside my sphere of awareness. (I think I last took a train to Cambridge in 1975.) But last week people started sending me pictures of the new train station, wondering if I could identify the pattern on it.
http://blog.stephenwolfram.com/2017/06/oh-my-gosh-its-covered-in-rule-30s/