Category: English Maritime Cases

PIRACY – HIRE – APPEAL – WHETHER CAPTURE AND ARREST CLAUSE APPLIED – WHETHER PIRACY CLAUSE APPLIED Owner claimed for lost hire from Charterer totaling about $5.6 million, the majority of which was lost due to the Vessel being captured by pirates. To support their claim, the Owner stated the capture and arrest clause did not apply since the Vessel was not captured by an “authority” as provided in the clause. Further, it was stated the piracy clause did not apply due to the capture occurring outside the geographical location listed in the clause.  The Owner of the Eleni P...

DAMAGES – LOSS OF CARGO – WHETHER SEAWORTHINESS IS AN ABSOLUTE OBLIGATION – EXCLUSION CLAUSE – BILL OF LADING  Cargo interests claimed damages against Owner for loss of deck cargo during the voyage. It was asserted that the Owner was liable due to negligence and its failure to ensure the vessel was seaworthy upon commencing the voyage. Owner contended that the exclusion clause provided in the bill of lading was applicable since it covered damages “howsoever caused”.  The cargo interests (Aprile SpA and Others) claimed damages against Elin Maritime Ltd (hereinafter, “Owner”) for the loss of deck cargo resultant from...

DEMURRAGE – ASBATANKVOY – ARBITRATION CLAUSE – WHETHER ARBITRATORS HAD JURISDICTION – SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT  Charterer contended Owner’s demurrage and heating cost claim after it was brought to arbitration. It asserted that the claim was not in the arbitrator’s jurisdiction as it arose from the settlement agreement, which did not contain an arbitration clause.  Under an amended Asbatankvoy form the vessel Four Island was chartered for carriage of fuel oil from Kavkaz to the discharge port of Novhodka in Russia. Owner claimed for demurrage and heating costs against Charterers totaling $909,148.08, which was settled in emails where the Charterer agreed to...

SPEED AND CONSUMPTION WARRANTIES – PERFORMANCE CLAIMS – GOOD WEATHER CONDITIONS – DOUGLAS SEA STATE – SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT  The Charterer claimed for damages for breach in the speed and performance warranty against Owner. Owner contended that there were no periods of time that satisfied “good weather” conditions.  Charterer issued a performance claim against Owner amounting to a total of $128,388.86 for lost time and overconsumption of bunkers during a time charter trip from South Africa to China. Owner contended that they were not in breach of the speed and consumption warranty as there were no days that satisfied the...

TIME CHARTER – OFF-HIRE – HULL CLEANING – PERFORMANCE CLAIMS – OVERCONSUMPTION OF BUNKERS – GOOD WEATHER DAY – EXERCISE OF LIEN – DELAY Several disputes arose between Owner and Charterer under a time charter voyage with respect to off-hire, vessel performance, delays after discharging, and exercising liens. his arbitration covered several disputes arising from a voyage under a time charter on an amended NYPE form from Australia to India with a cargo of coal. The vessel made call in Singapore whilst on the way to the discharge port where the Charterer intended to bunker the vessel and the Owner...

PERFORMANCE CLAIMS – SPEED AND CONSUMPTION – “ABOUT” TOLERANCES – CURRANT FACTORS – WEATHER ROUTING SERVICES – AIS – OFF-HIRE Charterer claimed against Owner for issues regarding vessel performance and off-hire. harterer claimed the vessel underperformed and overconsumed on a voyage, which was chartered under an amended NYPE form for a time charter. The Charterer supported their performance claim by supplying reports of the vessel’s performance from three weather routing companies. These three companies were referred to as X, Y, and Z throughout the arbitration. In the weather routing clause of the charter party the Charterer was warranted not to...

DEMURRAGE – TIME BAR – CONTRACT OF AFFREIGHTMENT – WHETHER BROKER IS AGENT OF OWNER OR CHARTERER – INTERMEDIATE BROKER – CONSEQUENTIAL DELAYS When Owner claimed demurrage with respect to eight voyages Charterer contended that seven of those were time-barred. The claim documents were sent to broker “D” who did not send them to the Charterer until after the time bar period. Owner contends that D was an agent of the Charterer, while Charterer contends D was an agent of the Owner.  Further, when engine troubles at the load port led to consequential delays at the disport which Charterer claimed...

PARTIAL FINAL AWARD – LA 4/19 – HIRE DEDUCTIONS – WHETHER CHARTERER HAD REASONABLE GROUNDS TO DEDUCT FROM HIRE Owner claimed for hire amount deducted by Charterer stating the Charterer offered no reasonable grounds to make that deduction. his arbitration follows the award made in London Arbitration 4/19. The result of that arbitration was that the Owner would not be held liable to the cargo claim involving the Charterer, and therefore the Charterer’s deduction from hire would be dismissed. Owner pursued the issue further and claimed that the Charterer could not show reasonable grounds for the deduction from hire and...

UNPAID HIRE – DEDUCTIONS TO HIRE – CHARTERER SETTLING WITH CARGO RECEIVER – CARGO CLAIM – INTER-CLUB NEW YORK PRODUCE EXCHANGE AGREEMENT – UNSEAWORTHINESS Owner claimed for unpaid hire from Charterer after Charterer had deducted it on the basis that the Charterer had to settle with the cargo receiver due to a delay in the vessel’s arrival at the discharge port caused by the vessel being unseaworthy. he subject of this arbitration is an unpaid hire sum amounting to $295,000.00 claimed by the Owner against the Charterer. Counterclaims were issued by the Charterer for the amount of $2,985.88 on the...

DEMURRAGE – SALES CONTRACT – TERM CONTRACT – TIME BAR – WHETHER DEMURRAGE IS INDEMNITY OR FREE-STANDING – CONTRACT OF AFFREIGHTMENT – COA Seller claimed for demurrage and other sums against Buyer, which the Seller named incorrectly in the claim. Buyer contended that the demurrage claim was time-barred under the contract of affreightment provision to which the Buyer was not a party, the demurrage rate was not in line with market rate, and the Seller’s entitlement to demurrage was an indemnity under the contract of affreightment. unvor SA (hereinafter, “Seller”) entered into a written term contract for the sale of...