Law Requirements News

The Seafarers’ International Union of Canada (SIU) has launched a lawsuit challenging repeated decisions by the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) to grant temporary work permits to foreign maritime workers crewing foreign ships operating in Canadian waters. Canadian law requires that ships carrying passengers or goods between Canadian ports (“cabotage”) may only use foreign workers if no qualified Canadian workers are available. “The Government of Canada has allowed foreign workers to take 2100 jobs from qualified Canadian maritime workers,” said SIU President Jim Given. “The Federal Government continues to misuse their authority to grant temporary work permits to foreign workers, while passing over Canadian sailors who are ready to work”.

Early results of a pilot to test 100 percent scanning of U.S.-bound containerized cargo shows both promise and challenges, a top Department of Homeland Security official told lawmakers recently. Stewart Baker, assistant secretary of Homeland Security for policy, indicated there were many challenges to the goal of 100 percent scanning in every port but that the department will pursue that goal aggressively. The Sept. 11 commission recommendation law mandates the scanning of all U.S.-bound cargo containers at foreign ports by July 2012. The law gives the Homeland Security secretary leeway if he finds the available integrated scanning technology, which includes a combination of imaging — such as X-ray — and radiation detection, is not adequate.

Ninety North Korean vessels were granted certificates to enter Japanese ports in the eight months since a new law that bans entry of any ship without insurance took effect, according to a Daily Yomiuri report. The law on liability for oil pollution damage, which came into force on March 1, requires vessels of 100 tons or larger to be insured before docking in Japan. It had been viewed as a de facto economic sanction, as it was believed that most North Korean vessels would not fulfill the law's requirements and therefore would be unable to dock in Japan. But according to the report, some Liberal Democratic Party members recently said more North Korean vessels had insurance coverage than they had expected. Source: Daily Yomiuri

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that a party may have a maritime lien under the Federal Maritime Lien Act without having a maritime contract. In the instant case, plaintiff fish processor contracted with various fishing vessel owners to land and process their squid catch. Plaintiff brought suit against the vessels in rem when the vessel owners did not fully pay the contracted amounts. The trial court granted the owners' motion to dismiss the complaint, finding that plaintiff did not have a maritime lien against the vessels because the contract was not maritime in nature. The appellate court reversed, ruling that…