Articles
If Not Now, When? Cyber Breaches in the Australian Maritime Sector
Maurice Lynch and Jason Symons, Mills Oakley, Australia Australia is amid a tumultuous period of cyber upheaval. Last weekend, another large Australian business was exposed to a cyber-attack. Australian businesses must now be thinking “If not now, when?” The attack...
Sun Sets on Hamburg Rules in Canada
Gavin Magrath, Magrath’s International Legal Counsel, Toronto, Canada Bill C-47, the budget implementation omnibus Act, received royal assent on 22 June 2023 and came into force on 20 September. Subdivision A of Division 21 of Part 4 amends the Marine Liability...
CMR – Interruption of Limitation Period
Charlotte Van Steenderen, Van Steenderen Mainport Lawyers, Rotterdam Ref: Judgment of the Gelderland District Court dated 28 June 2023 in the proceedings between HDM N.V., plaintiff in the main action, defendant in the counterclaim proceedings and Addink Distributie...
The Arbitration Act 1996 – The Law Commission’s Final Report
John Habergham, Myton Law, Hull U.K. As I prefaced in earlier articles (here and here), The Law Commission has been scrutinising the Arbitration Act 1996 and has now issued its final report after a couple of consultation rounds. As I intimated in my earlier articles,...
CMR – Carriage or Freight Forwarding?
Charlotte Van Steenderen, Van Steenderen Mainport Lawyers, Rotterdam Ref: Judgment of the Zeeland – West-Brabant District Court dated 14 December 2022 in the proceedings between Achmea Schadeverzekeringen N.V., plaintiff and Bleckmann Nederland B.V., defendant sub 1...
MSC vs STOLT TANKER CONTAINERS BV et al
John Habergham, Myton Law, Hull U.K. This case is about tonnage limitation under the 1976 Convention of Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims. MSC was the time charterer of the vessel MSC Flamina and was the appellant from an order of the Admiralty Judge that it...
The Netherlands – Fenex Terms, duties, right of lien
Charlotte Van Steenderen, Van Steenderen Mainport Lawyers, Rotterdam Ref: Judgment of the Rotterdam District Court dated 28 July 2023 in the proceedings between Bayrol Deutschland GmbH, plaintiff in the main action, defendant in the (conditional) counterclaim...
JTI Polska Sp. Z o.o. v Jakubowski
John Habergham, Myton Law, Hull U.K. The Supreme Court has revisited the issue of recovery of excise duty in claims involving CMR It has maintained the existing position and slapped down an earlier Court of Appeal decision which seemed to form the basis of the...
Ontario Court of Appeal upholds jurisdiction in international insurance contracts
Gavin Magrath, Magrath’s International Legal Counsel, Toronto, Canada Ref: Vale Canada Limited v. Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Company of Canada, 2022 ONCA 862, appeal of 2022 ONSC 12. Vale Canada, an international mining company, faced environmental degradation...
FIMBank plc v KCH Shipping Co Ltd
John Habergham, Myton Law, Hull U.K. The Court of Appeal has held that the one-year limitation period under Hague-Visby Rules applies to misdelivery after discharge The claimant, FIMBank, had taken a pledge over the bills of lading and cargo as security. It stood in...
Interlegal Opens Cyprus office
We are thrilled to announce the opening of our new office in Cyprus, expanding our international presence and reinforcing our commitment to serving clients in the region. With this exciting development, we aim to provide exceptional legal services and support to both...
Spanish Supreme Court enforces Hague Visby Time Bar
Felipe Arizon, Arizon Abogados SLP, Spain Ref: Supreme Court Judgment of 14 September 2021. The Supreme Court refuses the cassation appeal presented by the subrogated cargo insurers against the Company that carried out the lashing of the goods into the containers. In...
Ontario Court of Appeal upholds jurisdiction in international insurance contracts
Gavin Magrath, Magrath’s International Legal Counsel, Toronto, Canada Ref: Vale Canada Limited v. Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Company of Canada, 2022 ONCA 862, appeal of 2022 ONSC 12. Vale Canada, an international mining company, faced environmental degradation...
The Arbitration Act 1996 – review by the Law Commission part II
John Habergham, Myton Law, Hull U.K. The Law Commission project is ongoing - see my earlier article here. They issued a first consultation paper, considered the results and, as a consequence, then issued a second consultation paper inviting responses – the period for...
Netherlands – road transport: parachute jumping, Article 8:363 Dutch Civil Code
Charlotte J. van Steenderen, Van Steenderen Mainport Lawyers B.V. The Arnhem-Leeuwarden Court of Appeal rendered a judgment on 21 March 2023 (ECLI:NL:GHARL:2023:2521) in a case concerning a claim by insurer Ergo Versicherung AG against Morcargo B.V., Morcargo...
The Netherlands – CMR Art 23 + 32: limitation and time-bar
Charlotte J. van Steenderen, Van Steenderen Mainport Lawyers The Amsterdam District Court rendered a judgment on 22 February 2023 (ECLI:NL:RBAMS:2023:857) in a case between DSV Solutions Ltd., DSV Road Ltd., DSV Road B.V. and DSV Air & Sea Limited (hereinafter:...
Carrier’s liability for loss of cargo in case of violation of shipper’s instructions in GTC
Felix Goebel, Arnecke Sibeth Dabelstein Pursuant to section 425(1) of the German Commercial Code (HGB), a carrier is liable for damage caused by loss of, or damage to, goods in the period from acceptance for carriage until delivery, or by exceeding the delivery...
Liability for Cargo Damage under GenCon 1994
Arnold Van Steenderen, Van Steenderen Mainport Lawyers, Rotterdam The Netherlands – carriage by sea: Gencon 1994 charterparty, damage to cargo carried on board of the vessel, who is responsible and liable? The Amsterdam Court of Appeal rendered a judgment on 24...
Cold Carrier Collapse – Implications for Your Business
Frazer Hunt, Partner, Mills Oakley, Australia Okay, we have yet another transport business collapse. What can I do to minimize the pain? In the space of one month in the first quarter of 2023, we have seen the collapse of Focus Container Line and Scott’s Refrigerated...
The Thorco Lineage: limitation under the Hague-Visby Rules
John Habergham, Myton Law, Hull U.K. This case will probably (for which see the final paragraph below) lead to a sea change in English law with regard to limitation under the Hague-Visby Rules where there may be some minor physical damage to cargo, but there is a far...
Canada’s Modern Slavery Act poised to become law
Gavin Magrath, Magrath’s International Legal Counsel, Toronto, Canada Senate Bill S-211, formally "An Act to enact the Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act and to amend the Customs Tariff," also known as "Fighting Against Forced Labour...
CMR Art.17: legal succession, damages, and force majeure
Charlotte J. van Steenderen, Van Steenderen Mainport Lawyers, Rotterdam The District Court Zeeland – West-Brabant rendered a judgment on 1 June 2022 in a case concerning damage sustained to a consignment of hatching eggs containing live embryos from Northern Ireland...
Shipper seeks FMC sanctions for Maersk Retaliation
Andrew Yates, Lane Powell, USA What began as a straightforward dispute between an importer and Maersk[1] over demurrage charges incurred during the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic has now become a major retaliation complaint before the Federal Maritime Commission...
Burden of Proof under CMR
Charlotte J. van Steenderen, Van Steenderen Mainport Lawyers, Rotterdam The Dutch Supreme Court rendered a judgment on 16 September 2022 (ECLI:NL:HR:2022:1222) in a case answering the question if CMR contains a rule of burden of proof regarding the question whether...
GENCON 2022
John Habergham, Myton Law, Hull U.K. 100 years after it was first introduced and 30 years since the last revision, BIMCO have revised the Uniform General Charter, the most popular form of general charter. There has been no tinkering this time. It is a major change to...
Cargo Damage under CMR: waiver and forfeiture
Charlotte J. van Steenderen, Van Steenderen Mainport Lawyers, Rotterdam The District Court East-Brabant rendered an interim judgment on 30 March 2022 in a case concerning damage sustained to a consignment of pork en route from the Netherlands to Poland...
Container Demurrage and Detention Charges
Pauline Davies, Fee Langstone, New Zealand With demurrage and detention have become particularly hot topics since COVID. This paper discusses some international developments in the area, some ideas for reform and also some steps that freight forwarders can take to...
CMR Art.31 Forum and Jurisdiction
Charlotte J. van Steenderen, Van Steenderen Mainport Lawyers, Rotterdam The District Court of The Hague rendered a judgment on 19 January 2022 in a case concerning damage sustained to a consignment of roses en route from Spain to the Netherlands...
Government of Canada announces Digital Supply Chain Infrastructure
Gavin Magrath, Magrath’s International Legal Counsel, Toronto, Canada The Government of Canada announced today its $136 million Advancing Industry-Driven Digitalization of Canada’s Supply Chain initiative. The initiative aims to develop digital solutions that will...
Managing Commercial Risk with Chinese Counterparties
Arthur A. Nitsevych, Interlegal Ukraine In the framework of our China Desk Service, we have analyzed several times specifications of business with Chinese entities, paid attention to nuances and risks that your company may face during cooperation with Chinese...
Vessel arrest – what is acceptable security?
John Habergham, Myton Law, Hull U.K. Ref: Pacific Pearl Co Limited v Osios Shipping Inc A recent case before the Court of Appeal has considered what security should be seen as acceptable either to avoid the arrest of a vessel or obtain her release. Although the...
Presidential comments on freight rates conflict with FMC
Veronica Taubas, Argentina President Joe Biden recently made a statement highlighting concerns about high freight rates and placing the blame on carriers. The statement regarding the excessive rise in maritime freight is striking in light of what was ruled by the...
US Shipping Reform Act becomes Law
Gavin Magrath, Magrath’s International Legal Counsel, Toronto, Canada On Thursday June 16th 2022 President Biden signed into law the “Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022”, S. 3580 (the OSRA) [full text]. The OSRA is intended to improve efficiency and competitiveness in...
Forwarder as Agent – Common Law and Contract
Paul Bugden, Bugden + Co., London Ref: Ivy Technology Ltd v Martin [2022] EWHC 1218 (Comm) Henshaw J. The concept of agency is pervasive throughout the law of carriage of good in many different contexts. Central to agency in law is the conferral of authority by the...
Ideal carrier in event of announced storm
Michael Zbonikowski, Dr. Marco Remiorz, Arnecke Sibeth Dabelstein, Germany The parties were in dispute about damage that occurred to goods while they were being stored during transit. The plaintiff sold a used injection moulding machine to a customer in India and...
More moves from FMC on Carrier Charges
Gavin Magrath, Magrath’s International Legal Counsel, Toronto, Canada The US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) is continuing to push on unfair carrier charges as an anticompetitive burden to American shippers and importers. Earlier this month, the FMC announce that it...
Contracting under Duress
Paul Bugden, Bugden + Co., London Ref: Pakistan International Airline Corporation v Times Travel (UK) Ltd [2021] UKSC 40 A refusal by a carrier to carry further or indeed at all absent compliance with a demand for payment or further payment or some other renegotiation...
Chinese Court Recognises English Commercial Judgment
First Time Chinese Court Recognises English Commercial Judgment - The Expanded Interpretation of the "Principle of Reciprocity" Ik Wei Chong, Flora Tang and Si Cong Jiang, Clyde + Co, Shanghai On 17 March 2022, after obtaining approval from the Supreme People's Court,...
Who is a party?
Paul Bugden, Bugden + Co., London Ref: MVV Environment Devonport Ltd v NTO Shipping GmbH & Co KG [2020] EWHC 1371 (Comm) HHJ Pelling QC. The ultimate issue that arose in this case is whether the claimant was party to the contract of carriage evidenced by the...
MV UGLJAN – Carrier liability for damaged soybeans
Felipe Arizon, Arizon Abogados SLP, Spain Ref: MV UGLJAN, damage to bulk cargo of soybeans; whether carriers were responsible for the damages suffered by the Argentinian soybeans arrived in Malaga caked, dark, and hardened, or whether the damages were to be attributed...
DHL v Gemini Ocean Shipping
Paul Bugden, Bugden + Co., London Ref: DHL Project & Chartering Ltd v Gemini Ocean Shipping Co. Ltd [2022] EWHC 181 (Comm) Jacobs J. This recent case in the London Commercial Court considered the effect of a "subject shipper/receivers’ approval" provision in a...
Changes in the Italian Civil Code
Recent Changes in the Italian Civil Code on contract of freight forwarding and multimodal carriage Claudio Perrella LS Lex, Italy A few recent and relevant changes have been introduced in the Italian Civil Code impacting on the contract of freight forwarding and...
Do Sanctions Create Force Majeure?
Paul Bugden, Bugden + Co., London Ref: MUR Shipping BV v RTI Ltd [2022] EWHC 467 (Comm) Jacobs J. This recent case in the London Commercial Courts raised an important issue on the extent of a party’s entitlement to serve a force majeure notice in circumstances where...
Defective passage plans make an unseaworthy ship!
Maurice Lynch and Lorna Anderson, Mills Oakley, Australia The Supreme Court of the UK has handed down a landmark judgment, providing important guidance on the scope of carriers/owners seaworthiness and due diligence obligations under the Hague/Hague-Visby Rules (Hague...
Canadian Pacific Rail Network Shut Down
Gavin Magrath, Magrath’s International Legal Counsel, Toronto, Canada Update: Workers returned to their jobs on 22 March 2022 after an agreement to submit to binding arbitration. Following the required 72 hour lockout notice issued by CP management and the 72-hour...
Damage to cargo during a CMR carriage – a postscript
Henrik Thal Jantzen, Hafnia Law, Denmark I refer to my article of March 2021 about prospects to avoid CMR limitation by pursuing a claim on the basis of product liability principle. The article was based on a judgment delivered by the Danish Maritime and Commercial...
Ever Forward Runs Aground off Chesapeake Bay
Gavin Magrath, Magrath’s International Legal Counsel, Toronto, Canada Update: 31 March 2022 Evergreen Marine has declared General Average after efforts to refloat the vessel failed. The "Ever Forward" has failed to live up to its name as the 334m container ship ran...
Impact of the war in Ukraine on FTAs with Israel and the EU
By Omer Wagner, PWC Israel As is well known, the war between Russia and Ukraine affects a wide range of areas, both security and economic. This new war situation created, may also affect aspects related to imports and exports between Israel and Ukraine, aspects of...
Canada pulls licenses of “Freedom Convoy” truckers
Gavin Magrath, Magrath’s International Legal Counsel, Toronto, Canada Ontario's Ministry of Transportation (MTO) has suspended the operating licenses of as many as 39 trucking businesses as a result of their participation in the so-called "Freedom Convoy" of truckers...
FMC Invites Comments on Detention Billing
The Federal Maritime Commission is seeking public input on an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in respect of carrier detention billing practices. This of course follows their May 2020 publication of an Interpretive Rule on Carrier Billing Practices and October...
South Korea fines multiple lines in price fixing suit
Gavin Magrath, Magrath’s International Legal Counsel, Toronto, Canada On Tuesday, January 18th, the Korea Fair Trade Commission hit numerous shipping companies with a total of USD$81 million in fines for price fixing on multiple routes between Korea and other east...
FMC investigates ONE over Merchant Clause Suit
Gavin Magrath, Magrath’s International Legal Counsel, Toronto, Canada The US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) has launched an investigation into Japanese consortium Ocean Network Express PTE and its American subsidiary (collectively "ONE") to determine the legality...
Review of the Arbitration Act 1996
John Habergham, Myton Law, Hull U.K. The UK Arbitration Act is 25 years old The UK Law Commission (the statutory independent body created to keep the law under review and, where necessary recommend reform) is to review it. It seems to me the driver is the rise of...
Chinese Courts Upholding the Validity of Defective Arbitration Clauses
Ik Wei Chong, Clyde + Co, Shanghai On 19 March 2021, in the case of Sichuan Daiyalan Trading v. Hong Kong New Wish Electronics (the “Daiyalan Case”), the Beijing Fourth Intermediate People’s Court (the “Court”) issued a Civil Ruling ((2021) J04MCNo.52), holding that...
Interlegal Online Shipping + Trade Day
Arthur A. Nitsevych, Interlegal Ukraine Interlegal invites shipping & trade professionals to join our Online Shipping & Trade Day to discuss how to navigate the implications of COVID-19 upon our industry, how to be ready for Trade and Shipping indystry...
The CMA-CGM LIBRA
John Habergham, Myton Law, Hull U.K. This matter – all about passage planning and seaworthiness, has finally been decided by the Supreme Court. I couldn’t help feeling, reading the case, that it provides one of those examples where you think to yourself “How on earth...
ZIM KINGSTON – General Average Declared
Gavin Magrath, Magrath’s International Legal Counsel, Toronto, Canada On 1 October 2021, Zim declared a General Average incident in respect of the loss and damage sustained in the recent fire aboard the vessel near Victoria, BC. What is General Average? An incident...
The primacy and autonomy of arbitration
John Habergham, Myton Law, Hull U.K. Ref: Selevision Saudi Company v Bein Media Group LLC This recent decision of the Commercial Court will be of interest to those who are involved in international arbitration. It is another judgment which evidences the English law...
Ukraine Sanctions Shipping Company
This update brought to you by BLACK SEA LAW COMPANY (www.blacksealawcompany.com) sharing the latest Ukrainian maritime news, insight, and opinion covering the shipping business on Telegram channel (https://t.me/BlackSeaLaw), subscribe and keep up to date with all the...
Toxic Fire on ZIM Kingston near Victoria, Canada
Salvage operations continue after several containers, including possibly toxic material, caught fire aboard the MV Zim Kingston on Saturday October 23rd while anchored about 8km off shore near Victoria, British Colombia. Most of the Crew was evacuated promptly without...
Euronav NV v Repsol Trading SA
John Habergham, Myton Law, Hull U.K. This case must be of interest to those who conduct business internationally and which may involve a number of time zones around the world. Although it was a case dealing with the vessel owners’ claim for demurrage, it is of wider...
Cyber Fraud in International Trade – Precautions and Remedies
A review of cyber fraud involving payments into fraudulent bank accounts in Mainland China By Flora Tang and Eric Mo, Clyde + Co, Shanghai Background The continuous development of cyber technology has also resulted in cybercrime permeating into various industries and...
Limitation Conventions and Forum Non Conveniens
Limitation Conventions and Forum Non Conveniens - Strategically Navigating Different Regimes for Maritime Claims Frazer Hunt, Partner, Maurice Lynch, Special Counsel and Diana Lee, Law Graduate, Mills Oakley, Australia When a shipowner is sued for personal injury or...
Ocean Shipping Reform Act Introduced in US Congress
Gavin Magrath, Magrath’s International Legal Counsel, Toronto, Canada On August 10th Congressmen John Garamendi (D-CA) and Dusty Johnson (R-SD) introduced the “Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2021”, a bipartisan proposal which would, if passed, become the first...
The CHALLENGER – a (real) shipping law exam question
John Habergham, Myton Law, Hull U.K. The recently reported case of SK Shipping Europe PLC v VLCC 3 Corporation and another raised a number of legal issues which are of general interest as a matter of English commercial law and arise from time to time but do not often...
CMR road transport: damage to cargo caused by stowaways
Ref: Articles 17, 23 and 25, CMR Charlotte J. van Steenderen, Van Steenderen Mainport Lawyers The Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road ("CMR") provides a liability regime for international road carriage claims. Pursuant to article...
Biden Administration targets anti-competitive detention charges
On Friday July 9th the White House announced a series of 72 initiatives spanning virtually every federal jurisdiction and intended to address anti-competitive practices in industries from telecommunications to prescription drugs. Among these initiatives is an order...
Demurrage: To Infinity and Beyond?
A brief overview of the recent Belgian case law Adry Poelmans, Van Doosselaere Avocaten, Belgium Over the last few years, freight forwarders have been confronted with extensive (and sometimes outrageous) demurrage charges from sea carriers. Although demurrage serves...
Transport costs and customs duty – it’s on you
The increase in customs value in Israel, due to the increase in transport prices – the problem, and the way to the solution Adv. Omer Wagner, Kesselman & Kesselman, Israel In the past year, sea freight prices have risen sharply, an increase that has not been...
Terms of contracts prevail over rights of subrogation
Pauline Davies, Fee Langstone, New Zealand The law has long recognised that where an insurer has indemnified an insured for loss caused by a third party, the insurer can sue the third party in the insured’s name to recover the amount paid. However, two recent English...
Recognition of foreign judicial & arbitration awards in Ukraine
Arthur A. Nitsevych, partner, and Taras Dragan, lawyer, Interlegal Ukraine Ukraine has long been an active party to international business relations; therefore, the issue of recognizing foreign judicial and arbitration awards in Ukraine is a vital and crucial element....
Ever Given grounding: who is liable for carrier and forwarder delays?
Steffen Maelicke and Dr. Marco Remiorz, Arnecke Sibeth Dabelstein, Germany The grounding of the Ever Given container vessel in the Suez Canal caused considerable congestion for many other vessels which were trapped on both sides of the canal. As such, cargo interests...
London Maritime Arbitrators Association – 2021 Terms
John Habergham, Myton Law, Hull U.K. The London Maritime Arbitrators Association 2021 Terms have just been published by the LMAA and will take effect for appointments made on or after 1 May 2021. The LMAA concede that there is a deal of “fine tuning” but there are...
Port of Montreal to go on Strike
The union representing Longshoremen at the Port of Montreal, Syndicat des débardeurs local 375, has issued a formal strike notice that will take effect Monday, April 26th. Readers should note that significant disruptions of both import and export cargoes through the...
Hire payment in time charters: a condition or not?
Mykola Kozachenko, lawyer, and Kyrylo Sudnyk, junior lawyer, Interlegal Ukraine Chartering is an important concept of the global maritime trade sector and it consists of different types. One of the forms of carrying out a maritime business is a time charter. Under a...
Force Majeure Off the Rails!
Nicholas Cumming, Solicitor, and Frazer Hunt, partner, Mills Oakley, Australia Ref: Woolworths vs SCT Logistics [2021] NSWSC 344 A recent decision of the Supreme Court of NSW, Woolworths vs SCT Logistics [2021] NSWSC 344, held that despite there being a force majeure...
What’s Next for Suez?
Gavin Magrath, Magrath’s International Legal Counsel, Toronto, Canada The MV Ever Given was freed on Monday afternoon, six days after becoming stuck in the Suez Canal. Traffic is moving again, but the downstream effects will play out over the coming weeks and the...
Jurisdiction clause doesn’t bind related company
Aage Krogh, IUNO, Denmark In a case between a cargo owner’s cargo insurance and a carrier, a dispute regarding the jurisdiction arose. The cargo insurance alleged that the Danish courts had jurisdiction. This followed from the general conditions of the cargo owner’s...
Carriage of pharma products and gross negligence – Danish CMR
Henrik Thal Jantzen, Hafnia Law, Denmark In three recent judgements – the first one being delivered in August 2019 and the last one being delivered in April 2020 – the Danish Maritime and Commercial Court have addressed the question of gross negligence in accordance...
Free Webinar: Subrogation & Recourse in Ukraine & Turkey
You are invited to join our colleagues at Interlegal on March 17th for a free Webinar "Subrogation & Recourse in Ukraine & Turkey” for insurers, logistics, trade and forwarding companies. Agenda: - Key documents for subrogation and recourse - Chain of...
FIATA warns over Carrier LOUs.
According to FIATA, freight forwarders have been reporting attempts by carriers to extend their liability for charges trough demands for execution by the forwarder of a Letter of Understanding (LOU) in order to make bookings. The language of these LoUs clearly intend...
Contract Formation under Chinese Law
Contract Formation under Chinese Law – Notes for Chinese and International Companies Flora Tang and Ik Wei Chong, Clyde + Co, Shanghai Recently, we became aware of certain issues pertaining to contract formation under Chinese law. Such issues would arise by reason of...
Recourse and subrogation in Ukraine
Irina Maltseva, Interlegal, Ukraine [Editor's Note: Interlegal is offering a free webinar on this subject, more information here.] Cargo or carrier’s liability insurance is a concept actively practiced in Ukraine for a long time. However, we cannot be sure that...
No Contract, No Demurrage!
Gavin Magrath, Magrath’s International Legal Counsel, Toronto, Canada The Ontario Court of Appeal recently considered whether a rail carrier is entitled to charge a shipper demurrage pursuant to its tariff in the absence of any contract for carriage or services...
Forwarders beware – do you really know your choice of law and jurisdiction?
John Habergham, Myton Law, Hull U.K. Fellow members may well have an experience of clients who have become embroiled in disputes involving significant sums for container detention and demurrage and which has arisen out of the change in attitudes, globally, to traffic...
Chinese Winds Turn in Favour of Cargo Claimants Against Port Operators
Ik Wei Chong, Christian Liu, Albert Huang, Clyde + Co, Shanghai Does a sudden strong wind in a port area constitute a force majeure event under Chinese shipping law? A recent judgment may provide helpful guidance on this issue. Traditionally, under established...
Effect of Arbitration Clause on 3rd Party Assignee
Arnold Van Steenderen, Van Steenderen Mainport Lawyers, Rotterdam Ref: In MV ‘KOUTALIANOS’, EDIOLA SHIPPING LTD. vs CEFETRA B.V., Rotterdam District Court, 9 September 2020 The case concerns the carriage of soybean meal pellets by Ediola from Brazil to Europe on board...
Container Shipping Returns to Great Lakes
On 20 October 2020 the containership Claude A Desgagnés departed Montreal en route to Toronto, according to reports by the Port of Montreal and others. The voyage, a collaboration between MSC and Groupe Desgagnés, is the first such container cabotage route on the...
Militarization of customs and ports in Mexico
María Elena Sierra Díaz, AS Consultores, Mexico The present year has brought an enormous amount of changes and surprises to the world, and Mexico is no exception. Due to the globalization process, every situation happening at a world level, affects our institutions,...
FMC Call for Submissions on Carrier Merchant Clauses
The US Federal maritime Commission (FMC) announced a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) earlier this month seeking public comment on the practices of vessel operating carriers relating to the definition of "Merchant". More specifically, the FMC seeks comments from the container...
Contractual Choice of Law in Quickie Convenience
The Ontario Court of Appeal recently addressed an interprovincial commercial dispute in which contractual choices of law and forum played a central role, overturning the decision of the Superior Court and granting the appellant relief. Ref: Quickie Convenience Stores...
Caught in the Middle: Storage and Demurrage Charges
Gavin Magrath, Magrath’s International Legal Counsel, Toronto, Canada In spite of global supply chain interruptions caused by COVID-19, carriers and terminals have largely continued to impose tariff charges for storage, detention, and demurrage of containers. While...
Road Haulage Association – Conditions of Carriage 2020
John Habergham, Myton Law, Hull U.K. After a lapse of a little over a decade, the RHA have refreshed their carriage conditions. The latest version will be very familiar to most parties. The overall scheme of liability has been retained but there are a few significant...
Judicial Guidance Opinions and Cases in China Relating to Covid-19
By Yingbo (George) Wang & Xin Mu, Dentons Beijing Since the sudden outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic, numerous central and local authorities in China have enacted policies to bailout businesses and individuals. Meanwhile some of higher people’s courts have issued...
P&I Clubs’ Letter Of Undertaking – Practice In Ukraine
Evgeniy Sukachev, Senior Partner, and Irina Dolya, Associate, Black Sea Law Company International merchant shipping is undeniably a link for the global economy. Relations in the merchant shipping sphere are regulated not only by national systems of laws and codes, but...
The Beirut Explosion and Dangerous Goods – are you protected?
Frazer Hunt, Mills Oakley, Australia SUMMARY: The recent explosion in Beirut is a timely reminder to anybody who is involved in the handling of dangerous goods that it is not only necessary to know what you are handling but who you are dealing with both up and down...
Broken seal, suspicion of tampering – “damage” under CMR Art 17?
Arnold Van Steenderen, Van Steenderen Mainport Lawyers, Rotterdam The court of Amsterdam recently held that the word 'damage' in art. 17 paragraph 1of the CMR presumes substantial physical change to the state of the goods and ruled out, in this case, that a broken...
Chinese Court Hands Down First Judgment on a Rail Bill of Lading
Ik Wei Chong + Christian Liu, Clyde + Co, Shanghai On 30 June 2020, the Liangjiang New District People's Court, Chongqing ("the Court") handed down a judgment following legal proceedings over the ownership of goods filed by the holder of a Rail Bill of Lading ("Rail...
Appeal judgment in CMR: burden of proof (Art 29), breakthrough limit (Art 23)
Charlotte J. van Steenderen, Van Steenderen Mainport Lawyers, Rotterdam On 24 March 2020 the Court of Appeal in Den Bosch (Bois-le-duc) handed down a judgment in a CMR road transport case where several parcels appeared to have been gone missing, most probably during...
Aprile SPA v Elin Maritime Ltd [2019]- Deck Cargo Exclusion
John Habergham, Myton Law, Hull U.K. A number of claimants all named as ‘shipper’ on a bill of lading for a shipment of 201 packages of cargo described to be in ‘apparent good order and condition’ at the time of inspection, collectively brought a claim against the...