Lloyd's Maritime Law Newsletter

Admiralty jurisdiction – Maritime lien – Collapse of OW Bunker Group – Whether physical supplier of bunkers entitled to maritime lien – Whether assignment of liens by maritime lienholder to secured creditor valid – Whether physical supplier of bunkers had standing to appeal assignment ruling

General average – Vessel grounding on uncharted shoal leaving port of Xiamen – Whether cargo interests obliged to contribute to general average – Whether actionable fault on part of owners – Whether vessel’s passage plan defective – Whether defective passage plan made vessel unseaworthy

Carriage of goods by sea – Barratry – Chief engineer deliberately setting fire to vessel – Relevance of chief engineer’s state of mind – Whether shipowners entitled to rely on Hague Rules exemptions of “fire”

Charterparty – Laytime – Seizure of cargo by local customs authorities causing delay to discharge – Whether time lost caused by “government interferences”

Arbitration – Jurisdiction – Voyage charterparty containing London arbitration clause – Demurrage dispute settled by email exchange – Charterers failing to pay sum agreed – Owners bringing arbitration proceedings claiming sum agreed under settlement agreement – No provision for arbitration in settlement agreement – Whether arbitrators had jurisdiction over claim to recover agreed settlement sum

Sale of goods – Laytime – Contract for sale of coal on delivered ex ship terms – Notice of readiness tendered to port agents – Sellers failing to comply with condition precedent for service of NOR – Whether buyers estopped from insisting on compliance with condition precedent – Time of commencement of laytimeAgency – Whether fact that port agents were “notify party” under bill of lading constituted them agents of buyers

Charterparty – Vessel captured by pirates in Arabian Sea – Whether charter hire suspended during period of captivity