Arbitrators News

In February Gard published the results of its review of Lloyds Open Form (LOF). Their review indicated a disturbing reduction in the number of LOF contracts, and noted some other concerns with regard to loss of use of LOF in salvage situations.Lloyds Open Form is a classic and, in my mind, cherished, example of the core beauty of maritime. It combines a large number of maritime concepts into a simple device that solves a complex problem.It reminds me of a few of the lines in the song “Wooden Ships” by Crosby, Still, Nash and Young.

Join a webinar on June 17, 2020 for the global release of a major new market study on the depth, breadth and growth prospects of the Offshore Wind Market --  https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_UR5uY1boTOKdAAcAXDbR4gJust when it was looking like the offshore wind industry was finally about to take off in the United States, the COVID-19 pandemic has introduced one more significant layer of uncertainty upon an already very complicated playing field. There are currently 15 active offshore wind projects in the planning stages which…

The Maritime & Coastguard Agency has made a new appointment to the role of Secretary of State’s Representative (SOSRep) Maritime Salvage & Intervention, which oversees the response to accidents at sea. Les Chapman has been appointed to the role and will join the Agency on Monday 21 August. He will work alongside the existing SOSRep Hugh Shaw OBE for several months, to allow a substantial transition period in this important role, and will not assume the role and responsibilities of the SOSRep until an agreed time later on in the year. The SOSRep is responsible for reducing the risk to safety and the environment arising from accidents at sea.

The Vancouver International Maritime Centre (VIMC) is on a mission to grow the city and port into one of the world’s premiere maritime centers. Maritime Reporter & Engineering News recently spoke with Kaity Arsoniadis-Stein, Executive Director of the newly re-established VIMC, for her insights on the pace and direction of the initiative. Let’s start out easily. Why Vancouver? Why now? Why Vancouver? Projections and studies indicate that global trade will increase and shift to the Pacific due to the demand of resources by China and India.

The tightening of the marine markets over the last two years have pushed some companies to do everything that they can to avoid obligations that they feel are burdensome or take advantage of obligations that provide them with a competitive advantage. Unfortunately, many of these agreements were crafted during happier times, by employees who were motivated by simply closing the deal and without any real regard for the legal technicalities of the agreement. However, as the market has changed, these contractual details can have a long term lasting impact upon your company.

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has announced it has entered into a cooperation agreement with Dispute Resolution Data (DRD) – a research service for international commercial arbitration and mediation. Under the terms of the agreement, the ICC International Court of Arbitration will provide data that will ultimately contribute to a greater understanding of dispute resolution use and practice worldwide. Andrea Carlevaris, Secretary General of the ICC Court said: " Facilitating the access to data and information about arbitration proceedings is among the current priorities of the ICC Court. I am therefore delighted that the Court is joining DRD.

An electronic port community system to make all trading transactions paperless in Algerian ports based on the Dubai Trade portal has been unveiled at a major seminar in Dubai on investment opportunities in the country. The new system will be introduced under a joint venture agreement signed today between DP World, Dubai Trade, the ports of Algiers, Oran and Skikda, offering integrated electronic services from various trade and logistics service providers under a single window. Over 100 investors and business leaders attended the “Investing In Transports and Logistics in Algeria: Opportunities and Challenges” seminar, the first of its…

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.

Venezuela's request to review a $46 million compensation claim it has been ordered to pay to oil service company Tidewater was rejected and the stay on the award's execution lifted, a World Bank tribunal said in a decision posted on its website on Wednesday. The South American OPEC country had sought a revision "based on what it describes as an error in the tribunal's damages calculation," an International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes' (ICSID) tribunal said in its decision. The award includes around $44 million in owed invoices.

The South China Sea has become the most important testing ground for the changing economic, political and military relationship between China and the United States. The islands, rocks, reefs and shoals at the heart of the dispute - most of them uninhabited and submerged at high tide - cover just a few square kilometres of a sea area that extends over 3 million square kilometres. But long-festering disputes over sovereignty among the littoral states (principally China, Vietnam and the Philippines but involving Malaysia…

International accountant and shipping adviser Moore Stephens says shipping needs to adopt a can-do attitude in order to successfully meet the challenges which are likely to come its way in 2015. Moore Stephens shipping partner Richard Greiner says, “Shipping confidence started 2014 on a six-year high and ended it on a two-year low. It is difficult to predict with any certainty what the next 12 months will bring, beyond further uncertainty. To paraphrase an old adage, shipping goes into 2015 needing to accept the things it cannot change, to change the things it can change, and to make sure it understands the difference between the two. “Top of the list of things which shipping cannot change is the relentless march of regulation.

The importance of shipping to world trade hardly needs stating, carrying as it does more than 9 billion tons of cargo each year in some 4,500,000 vessel movements. And while there have been major improvements in ship and operational safety over the past decades, casualties do still occur and will continue to do so. Engine breakdowns, fire, bad weather and, of course, the human element can cause serious incidents putting a vessel, its crew, cargo and the environment at risk. Marine salvage is the business of providing services to casualty vessels with the objective of saving life, protecting the environment and saving property. The salvage…

Long Beach Ports, threatening holiday commerce and U.S. San Francisco, CA (November 6, 2014) – Escalating its use of orchestrated job actions that have already crippled terminal operations at Pacific Northwest ports, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) has now targeted the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach by unilaterally refusing to dispatch hundreds of qualified, skilled workers for critically important positions transporting containers in terminal yards at the nation’s largest port complex. On short notice, the Union informed the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) that starting Monday, November 3rd, it would not dispatch qualified ILWU members…

On November 13, the newly formed New York Maritime Consortium, a coalition of leaders from New York Maritime Inc. (NYMAR), the Society of Maritime Arbitrators (SMA), the Maritime Law Association (MLA) and the Association of Shipbrokers and Agents (ASBA), will host an event entitled “New York and London: Perception and Reality”. According to the event’s organizers, key industry figures from the areas of finance, arbitration and law from both sides of the Atlantic have been invited to illustrate the strengths of each jurisdiction, and how the two relate to each other. Chief Judge Loretta Preska of the Southern District of New York Federal Court will moderate the event. The forum will be held from 2:30-6 p.m. at The Harvard Club.

The 5th ICC International Commercial Mediation Conference has brought together leading mediators, arbitrators, corporate managers and in-house counsel from around the world to focus on how companies can improve their chances of settling commercial disputes through direct negotiation, mediation and sound dispute resolution planning. Entitled “Plan to Succeed”, the lively event was designed by an international board of experts in using mediation to end complex commercial disputes with contractors, governments or clients, saving time for all involved. “The real added value of commercial mediation is that it helps businesses reach early and less expensive settlements of disputes in circumstances where direct negotiations have failed…

China and the United States appear headed for a damaging confrontation over the extent of China's territorial claims in the South and East China Seas. Now that China has become the world's largest importer of oil, and energy more generally, the country's need to develop more indigenous energy supplies has become urgent. Expecting China to put the South and East China Seas off limits to exploration and production until disputes over sovereignty can be resolved through some undefined legal or diplomatic process is unrealistic. Part of the problem is that western analysts and policymakers still fail to appreciate the strategic importance of these areas.

A World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute panel ruled against Argentina on Friday in a 2012 case brought by the United States, European Union, and Japan against Argentine import licensing rules used to restrict imports. The three trade powers argued that Argentina did not grant licenses to importers automatically, as required under WTO rules, allowing it to shield its vulnerable economy. The case was part of a tit-for-tat trade war in which the government seized control of oil firm YPF from its Spanish parent Repsol. The panel of three independent arbitrators found that Argentina licensing rules violate GATT agreement and called on the government of Cristina Fernandez to bring them into line with international trade rules.

BIMCO notes that the highly acclaimed "Double Jeopardy - trial by media, trial by law" first showcased at the BIMCO AGM in Dubai earlier this year is to be brought to the stage in a London theatre production on 3 November. This highly novel event blends theatre, cinema and role playing in an entertaining and informative show where the audience can interact with the proceedings using handheld voting meters. The story concerns the consequences of a bunker spill from a cargo vessel that runs aground in a river on the US West Coast. Advice is given to the owners and charterer by their P&I Clubs, lawyers, underwriters and class immediately after the event. As the story unfolds the relationship between owner and charterer deteriorates as media pressure builds to find whose liable.

The UK Defence Club, a provider of FD&D (legal costs) insurance to the maritime industry, announces its financial results for the year ended 20 February 2014. M.G. Pateras, Chairman of the UK Defence Club, says: “We are in a strong financial position with £52.2 million assets under management and with free reserves of £24.5 million. The past 12 months have seen the UK Defence Club entered owned tonnage reach an all time high at 127 million GRT, in addition to a sizeable book of chartered business. “Litigation is, however, an increasingly expensive proposition and a sound financial basis is crucial to the Club’s ability to support Members faced with litigation irrespective of the amounts involved.

The Council of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) informs it decided at its recent meeting to award the International Maritime Prize for 2013 to Dr. José Eusebio Salgado y Salgado, Mexican academic and author of the Manual de Derecho Internacional Marítimo (Manual of International Maritime Law), for his significant contribution to the work and objectives of IMO. In nominating his candidature, the Government of Mexico drew attention to Dr. Salgado y Salgado’s distinguished career as an academic in international maritime law, during his 40-year tenure as a professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Biography of Dr. Dr.

A $180 million claim involving the Panama Canal's disputed $1.6 billion cost overrun is headed to arbitration court in Miami next week, canal officials said on Monday. The $180 million claim by the consortium working on the massive canal expansion project is the first of several disputed construction costs that could end up in the hands of the Miami arbitrators. The cost overrun temporarily halted work on the massive expansion project in February, and the Panama Canal Authority now says the project is on track to open in January 2016.

The International Salvage Union has published is Annual Review for 2013 which formally sets out the governance and work of the ISU which is the global trade association representing the interests of its members who are marine salvors. The ISU Annual Review includes a summary of the annual statistics collected from its members to provide an overview of the state of the salvage industry. The 2013 figures show a substantial industry with total revenues, not profit, of more than $700 million, up from just over $600 million in the previous year.

China lost an appeal at the World Trade Organization in a case brought by the United States, the European Union and Japan to challenge China's restrictions on exports of rare earths, according to a WTO Appellate Body ruling published on Thursday. "... China has not demonstrated that the export quotas that China applies to various forms of rare earths, tungsten and molybdenum by virtue of the series of measures at issue are justified ... " the document's conclusion said. China produces more than 90 percent of the world's rare earths, which are key elements in defence industry components and modern technology from iPhones and disk drives to wind turbines. It imposed strict export quotas in 2010, saying it was trying to curtail pollution and preserve resources.