Hyundai Merchant Marine Company Ltd v. Trafigure Beheer BV
(Gaz Energy) [2011] EWHC 3108 (Comm)
This is what the English High Court considered recently, in the
Gaz Energy.
The background facts
The charterers time chartered the LPG tanker Gaz Energy
from her disponent owners on the Shelltime 3 form – which
attached rider clauses and a Gas Form C.
Disputes arose regarding the vessel's performance.
The charterparty provided as follows:
Clause 24 ("Detailed Description and
Performance")
"Owners warrant that at the date of delivery...the vessel
shall be of the description set out in Gas Form C...and undertake
to use their best endeavours so to maintain the vessel during the
period of her service hereunder....
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ruling on the rights of remuneration of the owners of a time-chartered ship after the ship has been lawfully withdrawn for non-payment of hire.
The recent decision to start allowing Privately Contracted Armed Security Personnel (PCASP) onboard Maltese registered vessels immediately raised legal questions spanning across local legislation, international law, insurance and liability and jurisdiction.
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.
In part one I discussed how piracy has affected the maritime industry and BIMCO’s newly published GUARDCON (Standard Contract for the Employment of Security Guards on Vessels).
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.
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