Court Of First Instance News

An Egyptian court on Sunday rejected a complaint by the Japanese owner of a container ship that blocked traffic in the Suez Canal for six days in March against the vessel's continued detention by canal authorities, a lawyer said.The Ever Given, one of the world's largest container ships, became jammed across the canal in high winds on March 23, halting traffic in both directions and disrupting global trade.The complaint was attached to a case at the economic court in Ismailia in which the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) sought $916 million in compensation from the Ever Given's owner Shoei Kisen.Als

The ITF has condemned as ‘utterly unbelievable’ a totally unexpected decision by a court in Morocco to jail trade union leaders Said Elhairech and Mohamed Chamchati. Elhairech the general secretary of the Moroccan Ports Union, part of the ITF-affiliated UMT, and chair of the ITF Arab World regional committee, was arrested in June 2012 on charges of ‘sabotage and endangering national security’. He utterly rejected the accusations and was supported throughout by the ITF, which was unequivocal in its stance that he had been wrongly targeted following his very effective work on behalf of crews stranded by the cessation of operations of the Comarit-Comanav ferry company – which he undertook at the ITF’s request. In October all charges except one minor one were dropped and his innocence proven.

Netherlands law firm AKD Prinsen Van Wijmen says a recent decision of the Dutch Supreme Court indicates that, whilst Holland remains an extremely carrier-friendly jurisdiction for disputes under the Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR), a much stricter approach is to be adopted to the Act of God exemption from liability for loss and damage under CMR. In its April 24 decision in Philips Electronics NV v Vos Logistics, the Supreme Court upheld the earlier decisions of the court of first instance and the Court of Appeal in finding that Vos Logistics could not rely on the CMR Article 17 (2) Act of God defence in respect of the theft of a consignment of electrical goods whilst enroute by road from Belgium to Warsaw, Poland.

The Court of First Instance, has today ruled in the case concerning alleged breach of capacity restrictions at Kvaerner's German shipyard, Kvaerner Warnow Werft. The group has been informed that the Court has ruled in favor of Kvaerner. The Court has set aside the EU commission's decision that Kvaerner should repay DEM 117 million. Kvaerner paid and accounted for this amount in 2000. The Court's decision can be appealed within two months. Although Kvaerner has not yet seen the details of the Court's decision, Kvaerner's preliminary understanding is that the amount will be repaid. In addition to this case, the EU commission has not yet…