Legal Beat: Rule B Alter-Ego Vessel Seizures
Plaintiffs seeking to recover from ship managers or the vessels they operate but lacking a direct claim against a particular vessel have developed a clever strategy under U.S. maritime law. They seize a managed vessel under Supplemental Admiralty Rule B and claim the vessel-owning company is an alter ego of the defendant with whom the dispute really exists. In this way, plaintiffs can take advantage of the relatively low evidentiary bar to delve into protracted discovery to develop…
Wages Push Up Operating Costs
Shipping accountant and business consultant Moore Stephens says a five per cent rise in crew wages last year has pushed up total operating costs for most types of ship. Unveiling OpCost 2002, Moore Stephens' operating cost benchmarking tool, Chris Chasty, head of the shipping group, says, "We have been able to see some clear trends in operating costs over last year. Almost all the ship types we cover have seen total costs rise, with the average about five percent. Increases in P&I costs and repair and maintenance bills also hit shipowners' operating costs, according to the report, although fluctuations for different ship types varied. The OpCost 2002 report is extracted from Moore Stephens' database of actual running costs of over 600 ships for the accounting year 2001.