1. Burden of Proof under the Hague Rules
2 .General Average
3. Brexit Guidance on Customs
4. Expect a Rise in Short Sea Container Shipping as one Response to Brexit Fog
5. Why American Costs Are So High
6. People and Places
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1. Burden of Proof under the Hague Rules
Andrew Nicholas of Clyde & Co, writing in the latest edition of IUMI news, notes:-
A recent Supreme Court decision has provided important clarification of a key issue for parties involved in cargo disputes under the Hague Rules. In Volcafe Ltd and others v Compania Sud Americana de Vapores SA [2018] UKSC 61 it was held that the carrier has the legal burden of proving that they took due care to protect the goods from damage, including due care to protect the cargo from damage arising from its inherent characteristics.
In the context of a claim involving the carriage of bagged coffee beans that had been packed into containers by the carrier, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the carrier bore the burden of disproving negligence under both Article III.2 and Article IV.2 of the Hague Rules. Having failed to discharge this burden of proving the exercise of reasonable care for the cargo in respect of the preparation of the containers to prevent condensation damage, the carrier was held liable to the cargo claimants.
In its decision the Supreme Court emphasised that the common law of bailment was a vital feature of the background against which the Hague Rules were drafted and that in circumstances where goods are redelivered in damaged condition, the onus is on the bailee to show that the damage was not due to the absence of reasonable care on its part.
The clarification found in this important ruling should be a welcome development for cargo insurers and P&I Clubs alike given the increased certainty it provides for future Hague Rules cases, with cargo interests likely to be placed in the more advantageous position going forward. It also reflects both common sense and the commercial realities of the carriage of goods by sea that the legal burden of proof should be placed on carriers to have to account for the circumstances of cargo damage when they are the best-placed and often only party in a position to account for – and prevent – what happens during the carriage.
2. General Average
In memory lingers the saying of marine insurance expert Barton Phillips in Brisbane: the fastest way of bringing a room full of marine claims people to silence is to ask them whether they have considered the general average implications of the matter in hand. Singapore based M.Jagannath of Nau Pte Ltd has sent in a piece on the subject which raises the issue of fire losses on container ships.
http://www.nau.com.sg/cargo-
3. Brexit Guidance on Customs
The publishers of the CLECAT Journal write:-
The European Commission has prepared a guidance note on Brexit and Customs related matters which deals with the situation where the United Kingdom becomes a third country on the withdrawal date without a withdrawal agreement and hence without a transition period provided for in the draft Withdrawal Agreement (no deal scenario). The guidance provides practical details on the consequences for customs processes as of the withdrawal date and specific measures and explanations for Member States and private sector parties. The note addresses in depth, inter alia, the registration for EORI numbers, the impact on authorisations, proof of origin and origin procedures, return goods, transit and other special procedures such as warehousing, inward and outward processing. The Guidance document is accompanied by two Annexes dedicated to transit and export business scenarios. These guidances should be read in conjunction with the guidance note on excise and VAT issues.
Next to the in-depth guidance document, the Commission has launched an outreach campaign as part of its ongoing efforts to prepare for the UK’s exit of the European Union without a deal, calling for intensified preparedness work for all scenarios. This campaign should help to inform (smaller) businesses that want to continue trading with the UK after 30 March on what they need to do to ensure as smooth a transition as possible. According to the EU Commission, preparing for the UK becoming a non-EU country is of paramount importance if significant disruption for EU business is to
be avoided.
https://ec.europa.eu/info/
4. Expect a Rise in Short Sea Container Shipping as one Response to Brexit Fog
The editor of the Handy Shipping Guide has been speculating on ways to mitigate any post Brexit transport delays. He writes:-
With the confusion over Brexit reigning supreme in the news, and the weather contributing its own order of chaos, the British freight industry is starting to feel as if Armageddon is nigh. Five hour queues for trucks in Calais and Eurotunnel due to the French Customs go slow have now been supplemented with the inception of Operation Stack in England as lorries saw the M20 coast bound closed between Junctions 8 and 9, leading to 9 mile tailbacks due to Storm Gareth as RoRo ferry services were suspended.
The continuing delays may of course just be a foretaste of what may be expected should Brexit negotiations go even further south, if that is possible. Together with restrictions on European permits, the potential 22% jump in the cost of new trucks for UK road haulage operators if the new tariffs announced this week come into force, and uncertainties all around, what can importers and exporters do to mitigate the problems?
Once again the solution for many importers and exporters may be to return to more traditional modes of transport. In the early 1970s there were virtually no trailer services running between the UK and the European ports, simply short sea services. Over the decades this trade has evolved into container feeder services, and here may lay the solution.
Such feeder services between the Channel ports already exist but there are some which stretch the ability to utilise boxes as against what are now traditional trailer routes even further. For example one of the fledgling trailer routes in those first early days of European road freight was the UK Turkey option, a mode which quickly became firmly established as a driver accompanied route.
Now, with changing technologies and demands, we are seeing a reversion to containers, with such as Hull based logistics outfit John Good offering weekly sea freight services from Istanbul and Izmir that are usually suitable for most needs and offer an excellent alternative to road transport. The company, which has been advising shippers how to prepare for Brexit, claims the services offered have advantages over the road bound route.
Sea freight transits are similar to current road freight transits with port to port in around 8-9 days and door to door in 14-16 days with Customs clearance in Felixstowe. The system is also claimed as being more environmentally friendly than road services. This is an already established and viable option and, if the present confusion over the future of road freight continues, expect to see ever more feeder and short sea options evolve in the near future, particularly for cargo bound further north in the UK.
5. Why American Costs Are So High
Courtesy of the Browser we ran across the speculations of Alon Levy in Pedestrian Observations asking why American subways cost three to six times as much to build as subways in other countries? By his account, the reasons, in order of magnitude, are: station design; contracting and procurement, project management, and political interference.: So why dont American cities adopt best practices from overseas and save themselves billions of dollars? The answer, apparently, is sheer lack of curiosity. Americans are unique in not caring to learn from other countries, even when those countries do things better [Not so sure about this–the Chinese have their own version of this mindset, as do the Brits–ed]
https://
6. People and Places
Dr. Luis Guarin, Head of Marine Consultancy Services at Brookes Bell, is participating in a damage control and stability panel discussion at the Seatrade Cruise Global Conference at the Miami Beach Convention Center, Miami, Florida, on Thursday 11th April.
Seatrade Cruise Global is the world’s largest cruising event and attracts the biggest names in the industry. The conference programme consists of four days (8-11th April) of panel discussions, keynote speeches and learning sessions to enable the cruising sector to stay updated with best practice and to remain at the forefront of exponential industry growth.
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Mr. Hiroaki Sakashita has been appointed as Senior Executive Vice President as well as Executive Director of ClassNK.
Mr. Sakashita began his career at Japans Ministry of Transport (now Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism) in 1980. During his period at the government he has played vital roles in maritime administration including regulatory oversight and industry development. He assumed the position of Director-General of the Maritime Bureau in 2015, and Deputy Minister for Technical Affairs, Ministers Secretariat in 2016.
He joined ClassNK in 2018 as Executive Consultant and has been appointed to the current position overseeing ClassNKs expansion of its business portfolio and digital transformation.
Mr. Sakashita graduated from the Division of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering, the Faculty of Engineering, Yokohama National University in 1980.
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Sailors Society chaplain Jasper Del Rosario is celebrating a decade of service to seafarers in the Filipino port of Subic Bay.
Jasper, who began working for the charity in 2009, visits seafarers on board ships, gives them access to Wi-Fi so they can contact home and, when necessary, offers counselling and welfare support.
He is also heavily involved in Sailors Societys Wellness at Sea programme and delivers training to help improve seafarers on board health and well-being.
During his 10 years as a port chaplain, Jasper has visited 1,600 ships, given lifts to 9,000 seafarers and reached more than 30,000 men and women working on board.
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.
Work is underway to lodge the Archive within a new site for this publication.
Therapy
George: “I hea..hea… heard tha…that you can hel…hel…help me”.
Speech therapist: “Yes, sure. Ease yourself in the chair, look straight in my eyes, and count slowly till ten”.
George: “O…one, t…two, th…th…three, ….. eight, nine, ten. It’s wonderful, I don’t stammer anymore!”
Speech therapist: “My fee is 300 dollars.”
George: “H…h…how mu…mu…much?!”
[Paul Dixon]
Tall Tales
Two men were drinking in a bar at the top of the Empire State Building. One turns to the other and says, “You know, last week I discovered that if you jump from the top of this building, by the time you fall to the 10th floor, the winds around the building are so intense that they carry you around the building and back into the window.”
The bartender overhears this and just shakes his head in disapproval while wiping down the bar.
The second man says, “What, are you a nut? There is no way in hell that could happen!”
The first man says, “No, it’s true. Let me prove it to you.” He gets up from the bar, jumps over the balcony, and careens toward the street below. When he passes the 10th floor, the high wind whips him around the building and back into the 10th floor window, where he takes the elevator back up to the bar.
The second man says, “You know, I saw that with my own eyes, but that must have been a one-time fluke.”
The first man says, “No, it isn’t. I’ll prove it again!” And again he jumps and hurtles toward the street where the 10th floor wind gently carries him around the building and into the window. Once upstairs he urges his fellow drinker to try it.
The second man says, “Well, what the heck, it works, I’ll try it.” He jumps over the balcony, plunges downward, and passes the 11th…….10th…….9th…..
Back upstairs, the bartender turns to the other drinker and says, “You know, Superman, you’re a real jerk when you’re drunk….”