Lloyd's Maritime Law Newsletter

Charterparty – Consequential damages – Time charter excluding liability for “consequential damages” – Owners claiming hire and other sums due under charter – Charterers counterclaiming damages for alleged repudiatory breach on part of owners – Whether charterers’ counterclaim debarred on basis that loss asserted was “consequential damages”

Charterparty – Delay at discharge port – Charterers holding ship off berth – Whether owners entitled to quantum meruit for extra-contractual service – Whether owners entitled to cost of bunkers consumed during delay – Tribunal indicating that owners entitled to demurrage only – Procedure – LMAA Small Claims Procedure – Neither party arguing alternative case in demurrage before tribunal – Whether tribunal should proceed to award in absence of parties arguing alternative case in demurrage

Charterparty – Hire – Hire to be calculated by reference to Baltic Capesize Index “plus 4% for size adjustment” – Baltic Exchange changing size of benchmark vessel during course of charter – Whether implied term that percentage size adjustment should be revised so as to become a reasonable percentage size adjustment

Contract – Guarantee – Third party guaranteeing charterer’s obligations under charterparty as primary obligor – Guarantee expressed to be in consideration of owners entering into charterparty – Owners bringing arbitration proceedings against guarantor based on alleged breaches by charterers – Owners applying to foreign court for arrest of vessel owned by guarantor as security for claim under guarantee – Whether implied term of guarantee that owners would not seek security over and above that provided by the contracts of guarantee and indemnity

Demurrage – Fixture recap incorporating charterparty – Fixture recap also incorporating berth operator’s rules – Charterparty and berth operator’s rules providing for different regimes for commencement of laytime – Whether commencement of laytime governed by charterparty terms or by berth operator’s rules

Practice – Summary judgment – Duty of care – Bangladeshi worker suffering fatal accident in course of demolition of vessel in Bangladeshi shipyard – Widow bringing action in negligence against English company responsible for selling vessel for scrap – Defendant applying for reverse summary judgment on basis that no arguable duty of care was owed – Whether arguable that defendant owed duty of care – Whether claim time-barred under Bangladeshi law – Whether claim should be struck out

Charterparty – Time charter – Whether implied term that owners would not revoke charterers’ authority to collect bill of lading freight from sub-charterer unless hire and/or sums were due to the owners under the charterparty