Articles

Simon Tatham looks at how stricken vessels can get caught up in an extended game of political ping-pong between rival nations, increasing the risk of environmental damage I try not to miss the Salvage & Wreck Removal conference organised in London by Lloyd’s Maritime each December. Some interesting papers were presented on this occasion, not…

Simon Tatham looks into what happens in salvage cases involving a total loss. I write this as I return from 10 days in the tropics: a case of a sinking vessel in West Africa, ultimately lost with all but a small part of its containerised cargo. Not untypically, LOF, with SCOPIC immediately invoked, was agreed…

Simon Tatham looks at how a potentially long and costly dispute was avoided. Lloyd’s of London decided recently to publish LOF salvage awards on their Salvage and Arbitration Branch’s website. I thought it might be interesting to trawl through some of the more recent awards to see whether they threw up anything of interest. When…

The balance of power in offshore supply contracts remains firmly with the hirer – at times unfairly so, argues Simon Tatham. It was sad to see pictures recently of the tug built under the name Smit Rotterdam, in her day the most powerful tug in the world, under tow to the breakers. A working life of…

Simon Tatham questions why recent years have seen a decline in the use of LOFs. When I took my first job as an Admiralty or ‘wet’ solicitor in the City in 1980, we acted for Selco (as it was then known) as well as one or two smaller but regular LOF salvors. Salvage arbitrations were…

Simon Tatham considers owners, charterers, and one of life’s grim inevitables. It was Benjamin Franklin who famously wrote “in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes”. Equally certain is the annoyance of having to pay a tax that one feels is unjust, and while on the question of justice,…

John Reeder QC, consultant, TugAdvise, considers the importance to contractors, ship owners and insurers of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage, 2001.  Contractors, shipowners and insurers engaged in wreck removal operations must consider many factors as they develop their plans. But how many give proper consideration to the UNESCO Convention…

The most significant cause of escalating wreck removal costs is government interference. Simon Tatham takes a look at challenging unreasonable demands of authorities in the courts and what that means for the industry. At the annual Salvage and Wreck Removal conference held in London in December, my colleague John Reeder QC and I addressed the…

Purchasing a pre-owned vessel is a gamble in many respects, even more so when buyers do not have access to up-to-date maintenance records, says Simon Tatham. Hull underwriters pay out more for engine damage than most other claims and according to CEFOR, the Nordic Association of Marine Insurers, too many of these instances occur shortly…

Simon Tatham asks if there will ever be a time when owners or P&I Clubs challenge the courts if faced with unreasonable/uncommercial requirements from local authorities. At the time of writing, the cost of the operation to remove Costa Concordia is predicted to reach US$1.17bn, breaking through into the International Group of P&I Club’s third…