Club Letter News

In the wake of the Deepwater Horizon casualty there have been a number of proposals put before Congress for new legislation or amendments to existing legislation affecting vessel owners and operators. Many of these relate to liability for damages sustained as a result of the casualty or the oil spill that followed. Perhaps the oldest legislation to which amendment and / or appeal is being sought is a statute passed in 1851 to provide vessel owners with limited liability in respect claims brought against them in certain circumstances involving, amongst other things, marine casualties.

A recent ruling by a Chinese maritime court has been welcomed by The Swedish Club. The case concerned a member's vessel booked for damage repairs at a Chinese shipyard. The repairs took nearly eight times longer than quoted and the Guangzhou Maritime Court backed the owner's claim for loss of hire. Ruizong Wang, Deputy Managing Director at The Swedish Club's Hong Kong office, says: "Our member incurred a significant financial loss as a result of this extraordinary delay at the yard. The loss was nearly five times greater than the quoted cost of the repairs. "This favorable ruling from the Guangzhou Maritime Court may provide reassurance of future Chinese commitment to principles of fairness and reasonableness in dealings between Chinese and non-Chinese interests.