Articles

In certain ship grounding situations, a tug owner that has assisted a distressed vessel could claim for salvage or accept tariff rates; each has potential legal, insurance and contractual ramifications.  I recall a case where a vessel was blown off its berth in South America and although quite lightly aground on the opposite bank, was…

Lloyd’s Open Form (LOF) 2024 has now been published by Lloyd’s of London, its 14th edition since it was first launched in 1908, replacing the 2020 Form. Lloyd’s Salvage & Arbitration Branch summarised the update in May 2024 with changes that will impact salvors, insurers and shipowners. Firstly, there are no changes to the form…

Simon Tatham explains the importance of security: LOUs and guarantees covering shipping claims, salvage and wreck removal “Security is nine-tenths of the law” was my first boss’s mantra. I explain this unique feature of maritime law with this analogy. A building has a lending bank, a builder, tenants, occupiers, suppliers, insurers and may store goods…

Simon Tatham provides examples of how vessel owners and seafarers are prosecuted by maritime administrations following avoidable accidents Maritime administrations continue to pursue the prosecution of both seafarers and owners following accidents and incidents. In the UK, a good number of these relate to the leisure sector, from over-enthusiastic partygoers setting off fire extinguishers on…

Simon Tatham describes the legal conundrum and rigmarole after a barge and its cargo sliced through a naval floating dock during adverse weather. Setting the scene of an incident: a harbour tug is heading into port with barge and its cargo astern, undertaking the final part of a jack-up rig’s delivery for repairs. The jack-up…

Simon Tatham describes the latest reported Lloyd’s arbitration award and the route to a fair payout Now Lloyd’s of London publishes Lloyd’s Open Form (LOF) awards it is useful to occasionally report on the latest cases. Such awards assist in managing the expectations of salvors and underwriters alike and act as guidance for future negotiations,…

Each year, around 800 Bimco BARGEHIRE contracts are signed, currently on its SmartCon platform. It is understandable, with such an uptake, that Bimco should periodically review this barge-leasing contract. The most recent iteration of the 1994 and 2008 versions was published in 2021. The above usage excludes hybrid versions developed in-house by some of the…

Smit Salvage BV & Ors v Luster Maritime SA & Anr (The ‘Ever Given’) [2023] EWHC 697 Admlty) Today we look at what went wrong and the lessons to be learned when in March 2021 the owners of the EVER GIVEN sought to avoid a salvage claim and started negotiations for a commercial contract to…