M.H. Progress Lines SA v. Orient Shipping Rotterdam BV
(Genius Star 1) [2011] EWHC 3083 (Comm)
The new Inter-Club Agreement ("ICA") 2011 came into
effect on 1 September 2011. The dispute in this case required the
court to consider the interplay between the previous version, ICA
1996, and an amended Centrocon arbitration clause, where both were
incorporated into the time charterparty and where they potentially
conflicted. Nonetheless, the decision of Mr Justice Teare remains
relevant because the wording of the ICA 1996 provisions in question
remains unaltered in ICA 2011.
ICA 1996
The ICA regime is a means of apportioning liability for cargo
claims arising out of or under the NYPE or Asbatime standard form
time charterparties, where the parties have expressly incorporated
ICA into the terms of their charter. ICA 1996 amended and replaced
ICA 1984....
Specific Questions relating to this article should be addressed directly to the author.
In a judgment handed down on 2 May 2012, the UK Supreme Court has made a significant ruling on the rights of remuneration of the owners of a time-chartered ship after the ship has been lawfully withdrawn for non-payment of hire.
In a judgment handed down on 27 April 2012, Mr Justice Cooke has held that, in circumstances where the time charterers were in repudiatory breach of charterparty in purporting to redeliver the vessel early, the owners were entitled to refuse early redelivery, affirm the charterparty and hold the charterers liable for hire for the balance of the minimum period of the charterparty.
On 19 April 2012 the European Parliament voted to approve a new bilateral agreement between the EU and USA which permits the transfer of passenger name record (PNR) data to the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from airlines flying from the EU to the USA. The data is being transferred for the purposes of national security.
In common with many disputes that have gone to court or arbitration in the past three years, this one took place against the background of the financial crisis in late 2008 when the market for both charter rates and bunker prices dropped considerably.
It is clear that piracy is a serious threat to shipping across large parts of the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea, as pirate groups grow in strength, resources and expertise.
In our April 2011 E-Brief, we reviewed the Commercial Court decision in this dispute, where the judge upheld the charterers’ claim for damages against the owners on the basis that the vessel was not in a fit state to be approved by any oil company and, in particular, the oil majors identified in the recap email containing the charterparty.
Far East Chartering Ltd (formerly known as Visa Comtrade Asia Limited) and (2) Binani Cement Limited v. Great Eastern Shipping Company Limited (MV Jag Ravi) [2012] EWCA Civ 180.
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