Tagged: Vol. 19 No. 1

Archive / U.S. Maritime Cases

Great Elephant Corp. v. CPC Corp. (The “Front Sabang”) – SMA No. 4197, 14 Dec 2012

ASBA II -- GANGWAY FAILURE -- SEAWORTHINESS --BAD WEATHER -- DEMURRAGE -- Partial Owner Award The gangway collapsed during the boarding of the Charterer’s mooring team causing injury and subsequent delays in berthing. Per Owner, the cause of the collapse was due to a sheared swivel pin from contact by the tug in adverse weather. Conversely, Charterer asserted that the condition of the swivel pin was pre-existing and combined with the weight of the team caused the failure.
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America Metals Trading, LLP v. Phoenix Bulk Carriers, Ltd. (The “Captain P. Egglezos”) – SMA No. 4201, 25 Feb 2013

GENCON -- CONDITION OF PERFORMANCE -- ADDITIONAL FREIGHT FOR REPLACEMENT VESSELS -- Owner Award Charterer seeks compensation for the freight differential paid on substitute tonnage when the Owner failed to perform in their obligation to nominate two vessels as required in the charter party. Conversely, Owner counters that due to cargo issues (railcar allocation, export documentation, etc.) and berth operational issues, the Charterer would not have been able to supply the cargo even if the Owner complied with the Vessel nominations.
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Archive / English Maritime Cases

Breffke & Hehnke GmbH & Co. KG and Ors v. Navire Shipping Co. Ltd. and Ors (The “Saga Explorer”) – QBD (Comm. Ct.), 7 Nov 2012

BILLS OF LADING PHRASING -- APPARENT GOOD ORDER -- CARGO QUALITY -- CONDITION OF GOODS -- RETLA CLAUSE -- COGSA -- CONTRACT CONSTRUCTION -- Consignee Award The Vessel was chartered to carry a cargo of steel pipes. At the loadport, the cargo was inspected and found to be in poor condition as stated in the Survey report and Mates Receipt, however, the Bills of Lading reflected "apparent good order". Consignee claimed for damages stemming from the misrepresented cargo condition in the Bills of Lading. Owner claimed that they were excused from liability under a protective “Retla clause” incorporated in the B/Ls.
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Falkonera Shipping Co. v. Arcadia Energy Pte. Ltd. (The “Falkonera”) – QBD (Comm. Ct.), 20 Dec 2012

BPVOY 4 -- SHIP-TO-SHIP TRANSFER -- BPVOY4 CLAUSE 8 LANGUAGE --VLCC-TO-VLCC TRANSFER -- OWNER RIGHT OF REFUSAL -- Charterer Award Charterer instructed the VLCC vessel to discharge to two other VLCC’s (floating storage units) via a ship-to-ship transfer. The Owner withheld their approval of the Vessels and Charterer was forced to lighter to smaller vessels instead. Charterer argued that the Owner had breached the charter by wrongfully withholding their approval.
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Profindo Pte. Ltd. v. Abani Trading Pte. Ltd. (The “Athens”) – High Court, 14 Jan 2013

CFR SALES CONTRACT -- DEMURRAGE -- SHORT-DELIVERY OF GOODS -- LOSS OF EARNINGS -- DAMAGES -- Partial Seller Award Demurrage resulted when the port authorities forced the Vessel to leave the berth during discharge operations in order to berth a tanker deemed to be a higher priority. The CFR Buyer denied responsibility for the demurrage and excess port charges; and, counterclaimed against the CFR Seller for short-delivery of goods totaling 4 M.T. and unsatisfactory product quality. The Seller also claimed for loss of earnings resulting from the Owner blacklisting them due to the late demurrage payment and their resultant inability to fulfill a subsequent sale contract.
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BP Oil International Ltd v Target Shipping Ltd (The “Target”) – QBD (Comm. Ct.), 14 Jun 2012

BPVOY 4 -- REASONABLE OVERAGE FREIGHT -- EXCESS FREIGHT PAID -- RECOVERY OF OVERPAYMENT -- MISTAKE AT LAW -- Partial Charterer Award Charterer sought to recover a million dollars of excess freight paid on the Owner’s purportedly miscalculated invoice. At issue is whether freight overage applies for cargo carried in excess of the minimum volume stipulated when the additional port/region was not named in the Overage Section of the contract; and, whether the difference between the amount paid and the correct amount is recoverable at law as a payment made under a mistake.
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ED&F Man Sugar Ltd. v. Unicargo Transportgesellschaft mbH (The “Ladytramp”) – Court of Appeal, 19 Nov 2013

SUGAR CHARTER PARTY 1999 -- CONTRACT CONSTRUCTION -- FIRE CAUSING TERMINAL BREAKDOWN -- OBLIGATION TO NOMINATE ALTERNATE BERTH -- GOVERNMENT INTERFERENCE DEFINED -- Owner Award Prior to the Vessel’s arrival at the load berth, a fire destroyed the terminal’s conveyor-belt system and the Vessel was forced to lie at anchorage and await Charterer’s instructions. Owner charged this delay as laytime, however Charterer argued that the inoperable conveyor-belt system should be considered a mechanical breakdown and therefore not count.
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Great Elephant Corp. v. Trafigura Beheer BV (The “Crudesky”) – Court of Appeal, 25 Jul 2013

BPVOY 3 -- VESSEL DETAINED -- RESTRAINT OF PRINCES -- DEMURRAGE LIABILITY -- FORCE MAJEURE -- Partial Owner Award and FOB Seller Award Loading operations began without the presence of the required local government representative. The government subsequently revoked the Vessel’s clearance and refused to deliver the Vessel’s departure documents until the Terminal Operator paid a "fine" for her release. Owner claimed demurrage, costs for bunker and water consumption, and additional war insurance premiums. Charterer submitted a 3rd party demurrage liability claim against their FOB Seller.
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Odfjell Tankers AS v. Colonial Oil Industries Inc. (The “Kiso”) – SMA No. 4187, 5 Oct 2012

ASBATANKVOY -- EXTENSION OF LAYDAYS -- DEMURRAGE -- NO RESPONSE FROM CHARTERER -- FAILURE TO NOMINATE ARBITRATOR -- Owner Award Charterer agreed to a laycan extension when it became clear that the Vessel would be unable to reach the loadport by the cancellation date. After the voyage, Owner submitted a claim for demurrage and Charterer disputed their calculation. Charterer did not respond to any further communication.
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London Arbitration 2/12

PRO-FORMA CHARTERPARTY -- DRAFT RESTRICTION OWING TO EARTHQUAKE -- DEADFREIGHT -- DESPATCH FOR EARLY LOADING -- Partial Charterer Award, Partial Owner Award An earthquake prior to the voyage changed the dimensions of the load port and the local port authority reduced the draft limit. In order to accommodate this change, the Vessel was forced to shortload her cargo and Owner filed a claim for deadfreight. Charterer counterclaimed for despatch for laytime saved by the Vessel in loading prior to laydays.
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