2024 Maritime Digest of Arbitration Awards and Court Rulings
BREACH OF TIME CHARTER – DAMAGES – UNPAID HIRE – FAILURE TO GIVE REDELIVERY NOTICES - FAILURE TO PAY ADVANCE HIRE
Dann Marine Towing sought damages from Amerex Trading Group for breaching a time charter involving the M/V TURQUOISE COAST and Barge DMT 140. Amerex failed to pay the advance hire and other costs, leading to claims totaling $1.9M.
DEMURRAGE – LIEN AGAINST CARGO – EXTENSIVE DELAY – FAILURE TO PROVIDE SAFE BERTH / SAFE PORT – DIVERTED TO ALTERNATE PORT – DAMAGES
When the SEA CARRIER faced extensive delays at Clarence Town port awaiting safe berth / safe anchor, Oslo Caribbean was forced to invoke a lien on Bethell’s cargo and divert the vessel to another port. Bethell’s Trucking filed a counterclaim for damages, contending contract breach and wrongful termination.
DEMURRAGE – NAEGA 2 CONTRACT – UNPAID BALANCES ON PREVIOUS VESSELS – REVOKING NOR – REFUSAL OF PAYMENT – MULTIPLE VESSELS ON CREDIT
Soreidom sought to recover $776,202.94 in demurrage for the vessels M/V GANT FLAIR and M/V CENTURY EMERALD chartered under NAEGA 2 contracts with Hansen-Mueller Co. HM disputed its liability for the GANT FLAIR charges and claimed reduced liability for the CENTURY EMERALD charges.
WEATHER ROUTING COMPANY – DELIVERY AND REDELIVERY TIME – WEATHER LOGS – IN-PORT CONSUMPTION – AIS DATA
This arbitration examined disagreements over the delivery of a vessel, its redelivery conditions, in-port fuel consumption, and performance under a charterparty written on a modified NYPE 1946 form. Issues included AIS monitoring, fuel consumption and vessel performance claims.
APPEAL – US SANCTIONS – CONTRACT OF AFFREIGHTMENT – FORCE MAJEURE AFFECTING DELAY IN LOADING AND DISCHARGE – REASONABLE ENDEAVORS – DOLLAR PAYMENTS REQUIRED BY THE CONTRACT – OFFER TO PAY IN EUROS – OVERCOMING SANCTIONS
MUR Shipping sought to overturn a previous decision by the Court of Appeal by focusing on a force majeure clause in their contract with RTI. MUR invoked force majeure due to US sanctions preventing payments in dollars. The appeal examined contractual clarity, contractual rights, and the application of force majeure clauses.
TIME CHARTER – NYPE 93 FORM – FAILURE TO TENDER NOR FOR FIVE DAYS – DELAY TO TENDER NOR - LIABILITY OF OWNERS FOR DEMURRAGE NOT EARNED UNDER SUB-CHARTER - CLAUSE 8 – NEGLIGENCE OF AGENTS – DEMURRAGE
On a voyage chartered under an amended NYPE 93 form, a dispute arose due to the master's delayed submission of the Notice of Readiness (NOR), leading sub-charterers to contest the commencement of demurrage. Owners contended that the delay was neither deliberate nor negligent, attributing any loss to negligence on the part of the Charterers' agents. Charterers argued that the master's failure constituted a breach of contract and negligence.
ASBATANKVOY - DEMURRAGE - FAILURE TO PAY - FAILURE TO PARTICIPATE IN ARBITRATION
Panamax International Shipping sought $332K from AAT Global for demurrage incurred during a voyage transporting Carbon Black Feedstock from Mississippi River ports to East Coast India. AAT Global failed to respond to payment requests, forcing Panamax to initiate arbitration.
DAMAGES – BREACH OF SALES CONTRACT – FAILURE TO PAY - PVC – TRICON – LACK OF PARTICIPATION – CONTRACT CANCELLATION
Tricon Dry Chemicals initiated arbitration against Plastico Bahrain over a breached contract for 300 metric tons of PVC. The proceedings, based solely on Tricon's submissions, sought $156,000 in damages for Plastico's unilateral contract cancellation due to non-payment. Plastico did not participate in the arbitration.
BUNKERS – MARITIME LIEN – DEMURRAGE DEBT – ARBITRATION CLAUSE – SUB-CHARTER – NYPE FORM – VOYAGE CHARTER – FAILURE TO PAY HIRE – ARREST
The MARIA THEO I was chartered by Sinco from disponent owners, Marchand Navigation Co. on a NYPE form under English law and with the arbitration in London. Sinco then sub-chartered the vessel to Olam under a voyage charter. Olam incurred demurrage charges, which they agreed to pay Sinco, however, Marchand exercised a lien against Olam, stating breach of the charterparty by Sinco for the failure of Sinco to pay hire and for unpaid bunkers.
TIME CHARTER – INTER-CLUB AGREEMENT – DISCHARGE TO THREE RECEIVERS - CARGO SHORTAGE – OVER DISCHARGE – DETAINED BY RECEIVERS – OFF HIRE – REIMBURSEMENT OF CREW BONUS FOR DANGEROUS WATERS
Disputes in a wheat transport time charter from Ukraine to East Africa involved cargo shortage claims, off-hire due to port delays, and crew bonus issues under an amended NYPE 1946 form. Owners sought $2278K in unpaid hire fees, while charterers counterclaimed for $31K.
FORCE MAJEURE - “LAWSUIT” DEFINITION – TIME-BARRED CLAIMS – TIME-CLAUSE – AGREEMENTS ON CHARTER – ARBITRATION
In March 2022, a vessel sustained propeller damage on the way to its first load port, leading to the charter party cancellation through force majeure. Charterers did not initiate arbitration proceedings until over a year later in April 2023. The dispute focused on whether arbitration proceedings were time-barred. Charterers contended that the one-year time bar did not apply due to circumstances surrounding the voyage's cancellation.
