Lloyd's Maritime Law Newsletter

Practice – Appeal – Commercial Court allowing charterers’ appeal from arbitration award on question of law – Commercial Court refusing to grant owners leave to appeal to Court of Appeal – Whether Court of Appeal has jurisdiction to grant permission to appeal

Charterparty – Vessel failing pre-loading inspection – Claim for off hire and damages

Charterparty – Repudiation of time charter by charterers – Measure of damages – No available market at time of termination – Whether necessary to serve demand on guarantor

Practice – Claim form – Service out of the jurisdiction – Claimant charterers bringing proceedings to enforce London arbitration award and for declarations as to identity of contracting shipowners and for injunction restraining arbitration proceedings in Singapore – Whether English court rather than Singapore arbitration tribunal should determine issue of arbitrability – Whether permission should be granted to serve claim form out of jurisdiction

Arbitration – Jurisdiction – Shipowners bringing arbitration proceedings against guarantor of time charterers’ obligations – Guarantee assumed to be unenforceable under English law on public policy grounds – Whether London arbitration clause in guarantee also unenforceable – Whether arbitrators had substantive jurisdiction

Admiralty practice – Application by mortgagee for sale of vessels pendente lite – Mortgagee obtaining its own valuations and asking that vessels be sold at a certain price to a certain buyer – Whether court should depart from usual order that the Admiralty Marshal sell a vessel by appraisement, advertisement and inviting bids

Marine insurance – Time policy – Vessel suffering ingress of seawater in bowthruster room causing damage to engine – Negligence of crew – Whether loss proximately caused by peril of the seas – Whether loss caused by unseaworthiness of vessel – Whether insured forfeited claim by employment of fraudulent devices

Carriage of goods by sea – Cargo claim against contractual carrier – Whether charterparty terms incorporated into contract of carriage – Whether carrier in breach of duty – Whether damage caused by carrier’s want of due diligence to make vessel seaworthy – Whether transfer of liability clause rendered void by Article III Rule 8 of Hague Rules – Whether carrier responsible for proper stowage

Admiralty jurisdiction – Assignee of wages due to master and crew members bringing action in rem and arresting vessel – Whether court had in rem jurisdiction