Marine Link
Thursday, March 28, 2024
SUBSCRIBE

Court Orders News

15 Feb 2024

Iran Will Reciprocate If Its Ships Are Seized, Official Says

© AUUSanAKUL+ / Adobe Stock

Iran will reciprocate if its ships are seized, the legal adviser to Iran's President told state media on Thursday, in response to a statement by the United States Department of Justice.This month, the Department of Justice issued a statement announcing the seizure of more than 500,000 barrels of Iranian fuel to clamp down on the "Revolutionary Guards' financing network"."If an Iranian ship is seized, we will reciprocate and the legal way is not closed in this regard," legal adviser Mohammad Dehghan said, adding that he was not able to confirm whether U.S.

15 Nov 2023

US Appeals Court Orders Gulf Lease Auction Within 37 Days

Source: Earthjustice, Credit: NOAA

A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday ordered that a postponed federal auction of drilling rights in the Gulf of Mexico be held within 37 days, a setback for environmentalists seeking expanded protections for the endangered Rice's whale.According to court papers, the New Orleans-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit dismissed an effort by four green groups to block an expansion of the sale ordered by a lower court judge in September.The judges said the groups lacked standing to challenge the September decision.

10 Jul 2023

Iran Accuses US Navy of Defending Fuel Smuggling in Gulf Incident

© MasterSergeant / Adobe Stock

An Iranian Revolutionary Guards Commander accused the U.S. Navy on Monday of defending fuel smuggling in the Gulf by trying to interfere when Iran intercepted a ship last week."On July 6th, Revolutionary Guards' Navy personnel were inspecting a ship with the name NADA 2 that was involved in smuggling Iranian oil and gas in the Persian Gulf, which the Americans sought to prevent through a series of unprofessional and risky actions," IRGC Commander Ramazan Zirrahi said in comments reported by Iran's Tasnim news agency.On July 7th…

02 Dec 2022

Iran Oil Cargo Previously Seized by U.S. Unloads in Syria

An Iranian-flagged tanker on Friday delivered an oil shipment to Syria, which the United States had previously confiscated around Greece, ending months of uncertainty about the cargo, a ship tracker said.The seizure from the Lana, formerly the Pegas, prompted Iranian forces in May to seize two Greek tankers in the Middle East Gulf which were released on Nov. 16. Satellite tracking data showed the Lana had discharged the cargo of around 700,000 barrels in the Syrian port of Banias, said Claire Jungman, chief of staff with U.S. advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), which monitors Iran-related tanker traffic through ship and…

29 Nov 2022

Police Step Up Security Around Adani Port in India's Kerala after Clashes

©Dinesh/AdobeStock

Police in southern India on Tuesday ramped up security around the $900 million transhipment port being built by billionaire Gautam Adani's conglomerate after scores of people were injured in clashes with protesters from a Christian fishing community.Construction at the mega port project in Vizhinjam on the southern tip of India has been halted for more than three months by the protesters, who have blocked the site's entrance with a makeshift shelter. They blame the port's development for coastal erosion that has hit their livelihoods, an accusation the Adani Group denies.

15 Aug 2022

Iran Tanker Retrieves Oil Seized by U.S.

An Iranian-flagged tanker has retrieved an oil cargo which the United States had confiscated and is set to leave Greece, sources familiar with the matter said on Monday. The seizure from the Lana, formerly the Pegas, prompted Iranian forces in May to seize two Greek tankers in the Middle East Gulf, which have not yet been released. The United States had hired a tanker in April to impound the oil onboard the Lana tanker, which had been anchored off Greece. The oil was then partly removed and placed aboard the Ice Energy tanker, which had been chartered by Washington and had been expected to sail to United States before Greece's supreme court ruled that the cargo should be returned to Iran. "The reloading process is complete," one of the sources said.

12 Jan 2022

Princess Cruises Pleads Guilty to Violating 'Magic Pipe' Probation

© lemélangedesgenres / Adobe Stock

Carnival Corp.'s Princess Cruises has again pleaded guilty to violating its probation imposed as a result of its record $40 million criminal conviction for its "magic pipe" environmental crimes.The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Tuesday that Princess failed to establish and maintain an independent internal investigative office as required after pleading guilty to felony dumping and attempted cover-up charges in April 2017. An engineer aboard the Caribbean Princess revealed…

02 Jun 2021

Lawsuit Challenges ExxonMobil's Exploration and Production Activities in Guyana

A landmark lawsuit filed against Guyana's government, arguing that oil production fuels climate change, could bolster legal action as court cases involving energy companies and state authorities surge, according to lawyers and environmentalists.The constitutional claim - the first of its kind in the English-speaking Caribbean - asserts that oil exploration and production led by U.S. oil major ExxonMobil off the South American country's coast is unconstitutional, said the case's lead lawyer Melinda Janki.Filed by two Guyanese citizens in late May before the tiny nation's constitutional court, the lawsuit centers on the duty of the state to protect the environment for present and future generations…

14 Sep 2020

Court Orders Seizure of GP Global's Oil Tanker Over Loan Default

An Indian court has ordered the seizure of a tanker belonging to Dubai-based oil trading firm GP Global after a petition from UAE lender National Bank of Fujairah over a loan default, a court document showed.The Gujarat High Court directed the authorities of Pipavav Port on Sept. 9 to seize the company's bunkering tanker, GP B3, and detain it until a further court order or until the outstanding loan amount of just over $2 million is paid, a court document seen by Reuters shows. The next hearing is on Sept. 17.GP Global said last month it had appointed restructuring experts after failing to reach a deal with its lenders over debt restructuring.

14 Jan 2020

Court Orders DP World's Rights Restored for Doraleh Port

A London arbitration court has ordered Djibouti to restore DP World's right to operate the Doraleh Container Terminal as detailed under a 2006 concession deal within two months or pay damages, the state news agency WAM reported on Tuesday.The government of Djibouti seized the terminal from Dubai government-controlled DP World in February 2018 over a dispute dating back to at least 2012.An independent expert has estimated the losses to DP World at more than $1 billion, WAM reported. (Reporting by Asma Alsharif; Editing by Jan Harvey)

25 Jul 2019

Brazil Court orders Petrobras to Refuel Iran Vessels

File Image: AdobeStock / © Renaschild

Brazil's top court on Thursday ordered state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA to refuel two Iranian grain vessels stranded on the Brazilian coast due to U.S. sanctions holding up sales of fuel needed for their return trips.Chief Justice Dias Toffoli overturned a lower court ruling that allowed Petrobras, as the oil major is known, to refrain from fueling the vessels.Petrobras had denied service, citing the risk of consequences from U.S. sanctions. However, the risk is reduced if it is simply obeying a Supreme Court ruling…

17 Jun 2019

BP Rig Zigzags in Chase with Greenpeace Ship

Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise follows the BP chartered Transocean drilling rig Paul B Loyd Jr en route to the Vorlich field in the North Sea. The environmental activism group is calling for BP to halt drilling for new oil. (© Greenpeace / Jiri Rezac)

A BP drilling rig heading to an oilfield in the British North Sea has been forced to turn away twice over the past two days as a Greenpeace vessel protesting climate change tries to hamper its progress.The high-sea chase is the latest step in Greenpeace's nine-day effort to stop the 40,000 tonne Paul Loyd JNR rig from reaching the Vorlich oilfield to start its drilling campaign.The vessel left Cromarty Firth, north of Inverness, Scotland on Friday after police twice removed activists…

06 Jun 2018

PDVSA Raises Prospect of Force Majeure on Oil Exports

© Igor Groshev / Adobe Stock

OPEC member Venezuela has raised the prospect of declaring force majeure on contracts with major crude buyers amid plummeting output from its oil fields and tanker bottlenecks at ports, according to three sources familiar with the matter.Falling production from Venezuela has contributed to a rally in global oil prices to a near four-year high, and other OPEC members may boost output at a meeting later this month to compensate for the shortfall and other risks to global supplies.Oil is the financial lifeline for the embattled socialist government of President Nicolas Maduro…

14 May 2018

Conoco Seized PDVSA Products from Isla Refinery

© Darryl Brooks / Adobe Stock

U.S. oil major ConocoPhillips has seized products belonging to Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA from the Isla refinery it runs on Curacao, an island official told Reuters on Sunday.Conoco has won court orders allowing it to seize PDVSA assets on Caribbean islands, including Curacao, in efforts to collect on a $2 billion arbitral award linked to the 2007 nationalization of Conoco assets under late leader Hugo Chavez.“PDVSA products from the installations of the Isla refinery have been confiscated.

19 Apr 2018

UK Court Orders Russian Oligarch to Hand Over Superyacht in Divorce Fight

A Russian billionaire has been ordered by a court in London to hand over a 350 million-pound ($500 million) superyacht to his wife as part of Britain’s biggest-ever divorce battle.Justice Haddon-Cave at the High Court ruled that Farkad Akhmedov, 62, had used evasive and underhand tactics to keep the yacht beyond the reach of the English courts and avoid paying his wife, Tatiana Akhmedova, 41.The 377-foot "Luna" was bought by Akhmedov in 2014 from fellow Russian oligarch and Chelsea football club owner Roman Abramovich.The court heard that the yacht, currently in Dubai, is the second largest expedition yacht in the world.It is fitted with an anti-missile system, has a mini-submarine attached and boasts a 20-meter swimming pool, the largest of any superyacht in the world.Akhmedov sold Luna i

18 Apr 2017

Banned at Sea: Venezuela's Crude-stained Oil Tankers

In the scorching heat of the Caribbean Sea, workers in scuba suits scrub crude oil by hand from the hull of the Caspian Galaxy, a tanker so filthy it can't set sail in international waters. The vessel is among many that are constantly contaminated at two major export terminals where they load crude from Venezuela's state-run oil company, PDVSA. The water here has an oily sheen from leaks in the rusty pipelines under the surface. That means the tankers have to be cleaned before traveling to many foreign ports, which won't admit crude-stained ships for fear of environmental damage to their harbors, port facilities or other vessels. The…

18 Apr 2017

Sovcomflot Holds PDVSA Oil Hostage over Debts

Venezuela's state-run oil company, PDVSA, sent a tanker in October to the Caribbean with the expectation that its cargo of crude would fetch about $20 million - money the crisis-stricken nation desperately needs. Instead, the owner of the tanker, the Russian state-owned shipping conglomerate Sovcomflot, held the oil in hopes of collecting partial payment on $30 million that it says PDVSA owes for unpaid shipping fees. Despite a longstanding alliance between Venezuela and Russia, Sovcomflot sued PDVSA in St. Maarten, a Dutch island on the northeast end of the Caribbean. "The ship owners ... imposed garnishment on the aforementioned oil cargo," reads a March decision by the St. Maarten court.

08 Aug 2016

Court Orders Swiber to Stop Payment of Bank Guarantees

File photo: Swiber

Swiber Offshore Construction, part of troubled Singapore oilfield services firm Swiber Holdings, has received an interim court order to halt payment of bank guarantees for projects it was involved in, a stock exchange filing showed. Parent company Swiber Holdings last month applied to place itself under judicial management, after initially filing for liquidation, becoming the largest local company to fall victim to the slump in oil prices. Judicial management allows for a company to be nursed back to health under the supervision of the Singapore Court.

25 Aug 2015

Where Arbitration Began: Maritime Arbitration in New York

In March 1656, Andrew Kilvert brought suit against Jan Geraerdy in the Court of Burgemeesters of the colony of New Netherland, demanding the release of his vessel, which had been arrested to obtain payment for the sale price of Kilvert’s ship. The practice of arbitration of maritime matters in New York, therefore, has its beginnings in Dutch law. Dutch rule in New Netherland (New Amsterdam) lasted less than 50 years. With the English takeover in 1664, most of the Dutch settlers elected to stay in what its new rulers named New York. In 1766, a statute concerning arbitration was enacted in the colony, and shortly after the founding of the New York Chamber of Commerce in 1768, the arbitral system became further embedded in New York.

01 Apr 2014

Second HNA Vessel Arrested Within a Fortnight

Justice image CCL3

Hong Kong company Shagang Shipping informs it has successfully obtained an order for the arrest of the HNA Group controlled 1999 built, 163,346 gt crude oil tanker M/V ‘GC Guangzhou’ at the Port of Gwangyang (Yeocheon) in South Korea. According to Shagang Shipping this second arrest of an HNA controlled vessel in two weeks is part of a long-running legal campaign in which they seek USD$66.4m plus interest from HNA Group, which they maintain has failed to honour its guarantee and comply with its contractual obligations surrounding the 2008 hire of the vessel M/V ‘Dong-A-Astrea’.

20 Mar 2014

HK Firm Gets Ship Arrested, Shines Light on Debtor's Operations

A bulk carrrier docked: File photo CCL

Hong Kong company Shagang Shipping has successfully obtained an order for the arrest of the HNA Group controlled vessel 'MV Bulk Peace' from the Western Australia District Registry. The move is part of a long-running legal campaign seeking payment of USD 66.4m from HNA Group. The claims arise from 2008 when Shagang Shipping chartered a capesize bulk carrier MV Dong-A Astrea, owned by Dong-A Tankers, to a HNA Group company, Grand China Shipping Company Limited, for a period of seven years.

23 Jan 2014

China Arbitration Court Orders Korea's STX to Pay Debt

STX logo

Troubled South Korea shipbuilder STX Heavy Industries Co. issued a guarantee on a loan defaulted on by its Chinese heavy machinery manufacturer, STX Dalian Heavy Industries Co., from China's Bank of Communications and has been ordered to repay the loan, reports Yonhap. Unlisted STX Dalian Heavy Industries is a wholly owned subsidiary of STX Heavy Industries and has been ordered to repay the 60.9 billion won (US$56.8 million) loan by the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission after the Chinese unit failed to service the principle and interest.

09 May 2013

USMMA Alumni Eviction Upheld in Federal Court

Academy demands that Alumni Association immediately vacate premises; court orders parties to work out details by end of business of Friday, May 10th. The eviction of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Alumni Association has been affirmed by a Long Island federal court. Jim Forde ‘88, Esq., AAF Board of Directors, said in a prepared statement today, “We regret to inform everyone that the court denied our motion for an injunction.” He also said that, after the ruling, the Academy demanded that the Alumni Association immediately vacate the grounds. Academy officials say the case is simple. They need the property to adapt it to use as classrooms. The court however, has ordered that the parties have until Friday, May 10th to work out some sort of reasonable time frame to move out.