General Average News

At a recent seminar in London organized by the International Underwriting Association of London (IUA) and the Association of Average Adjusters (AAA), participants heard how ignoring or not fully understanding the concept of General Average (GA) when concluding charter-party contracts for offshore services could cause problems in the event of an incident or accident.Michiel Starmans, a Fellow of the AAA and Director Legal Department of the Spliethoff Group and Alf Inge Johannessen…

Just shy of 10 years old, United Heavy Lift (UHL) recently welcomed its 19th ship to the fleet, an F900 eco-lifter. In advance of the ship delivery festivities in mid-July, we had the chance to chat with Andreas Rolner, Managing Director of UHL, a man who with his father parlayed cumulative experience in the heavy lift business into one of the world’s largest heavy lift companies.“Shipping has always been a part of my DNA,” said Andreas Rolner, noting his family moved from Denmark to Germany when he was a young boy, and his father Lars joining SAL back then in 1980.

The first voyages of the Blue Visby Prototype Trials took place in March/April 2024 with the bulk carriers Gerdt Oldendorff and the Begonia, which, under voyage charter to Blue Visby Consortium member CBH Group, performed ballast voyages to CBH Group’s Kwinana Grain Terminal, Australia.The Blue Visby Solution is aimed at eradicating Sail Fast Then Wait (SFTW): the operational practice of ships that sail to their destination "with the utmost despatch", without regard to other ships or to the conditions at the destination.

In a well-timed decision given the current situation in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, the UK Supreme Court recently handed down judgment in Herculito Maritime Ltd v Gunvor International BV [2024] UKSC 2, a decision that arose from seizure of a ship by Somali pirates.Key factsThe vessel MT Polar was chartered to carry a cargo of fuel oil from St Petersburg to Singapore. The most direct route would be via the Suez Canal and Gulf of Aden.The Gulf of Aden was within the “high risk area” for piracy when the charter was agreed.

A fire has broken out aboard a containership in the Red Sea, northwest of the Farasan Islands off Saudi Arabia. All 25 crewmembers on board have evacuated the burning ship and were rescued by a nearby vessel.The blaze erupted in container stacks immediately forward of the accommodation block at the stern of the Panama-registered TSS Pearl while the ship was en route to Aden, Yemen.The fire is reportedly still active, and professional salvors have been dispatched to respond to…

General average has been declared for the ZIM Charleston after stacks of containers caught fire on board the vessel earlier this month.The fire broke out in a cargo hold while the Seaspan-owned containership was navigating off Colombo, Sri Lanka on August 8. It has been reported that approximately 300 containers may have been affected by fire, heat and smoke, as well as water damage from firefighting operations.Investigators are working to determine the cause of the fire and gauge full extent of the damage.Meanwhile…

The containership Ever Forward has been refloated after more than a month aground in the Chesapeake Bay, near the Port of Baltimore. The Hong Kong-registered vessel was freed around 7 a.m. on Sunday after running aground on March 13 while en route from Baltimore to Norfolk, Va.Salvors removed a portion of the nearly 5,000 containers on board to reduce groundforce following two failed attempts to dredge around and tow out the 1,095-foot-long containership on March 29 and 30. The ship…

Salvors on Saturday started removing containers from the grounded containership Ever Forward in an effort to reduce ground force ahead of the next refloat attempt.The lightering operation follows several failed attempts to dredge around and tow out the 1,095-foot vessel, which has been stuck in the mud outside of the Craighill Channel in the Chesapeake Bay since March 13.Crane barges will remove a portion of the containers from both the port and starboard sides of the the 12,000 TEU vessel.

Evergreen Marine, the owner of a containership stuck aground in the Chesapeake Bay, has declared general average after two failed attempts to refloat the vessel.The Ever Forward has been stuck near the Port of Baltimore since March 13 despite the efforts of dredgers and salvors who have been working for more than a week to dig out and refloat the 1,095-foot vessel. Separate attempts to refloat the ship on Tuesday and Wednesday were unsuccessful, meaning costlier and more complex salvage efforts will be required…

BMT appointed Hittesh Gupta as Head of Casualty Investigation, Asia, a key position as BMT looks to expand its office presence for Marine Surveys in Singapore and strengthen its marine consulting services hub position in Asia.With more than 23-years of experience in the shipping industry, Gupta has a deep understanding of marine surveying having served on product and crude oil tankers and offshore oil & gas production units. He has worked extensively for underwriters and leading P&I Clubs undertaking casualty investigations across the full spectrum of vessels and provided assessments of their Cargo / Seaworthiness – Oil, Chemical, Gas tankers…

In the past few years, the commercial use of facial recognition technology has advanced at an explosive rate, expanding into numerous industries and trades. For instance, facial biometrics is increasingly relied on by airlines and airports across the globe; a similar trend is starting to take hold in the maritime industry, particularly the cruise sector.While this expansion is occurring, states and cities across the country—as well as the federal government—are attempting to enact strict laws regulating the use of facial recognition technology by commercial entities.

Hapag-Lloyd says repairs have completed on board the fire-stricken containership MV “Yantian Express” in Freeport Harbour, Bahamas and will depart on Wednesday May 15th."The vessel is currently berthed at the terminal in the Bahamas. Reloading of all containers previously discharged ashore for inspection has now been completed," said a press release from the  Accordingly all cargoes, whether security has been provided or not, are now on board the Yantian Express  German-based cargo container shipping line.Dependent on final technical approval of vessel class, arrival of spare parts and conclusion of repairs, MV “Yantian Express” is now tentatively scheduled to depart from Freeport…

The increased risk of large, more complex and costly claims has the potential to impact all marine underwriting sectors in 2019, said the International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI).Although the global fleet continued to grow at around 3% in 2018, the number of total losses (vessels over 500GT) stood at a 20-year low. Only 21 total losses were recorded last year and this is on the back of a general downward trend witnessed since 2010. The reduction was seen across all vessel classes.Serious casualties (excluding total losses) have stabilised over the past three years but are still higher, on average, than in 2014. There is likely to be a spike in Q1 2019 when numbers have been finalised.

From high-traffic ports to bustling boatyards, and busy shipyards to expanding marinas, marine professionals operate in a challenging environment. They work on land, on or around water, and are exposed to all kinds of weather. And the challenges won’t ease up any time soon. Our nation’s ports continue to expand as trade surges. Add in increased commercial vessel traffic and recreational boating, and it’s clear that marine businesses have to be in shipshape condition. It means that the marine insurance industry has to stay on its toes too…

The fire-stricken 9,200 teu APL Vancouver is en route to a Singapore lay-by berth for inspection by surveyors, following the decision last week to declare general average (GA)."The vessel was cleared for departure on February 12th following inspections by the Salvage team and Class surveyor," said a press note from APL.Additional safety measures have been provided for its voyage to Singapore, including an escort tug.At about 0330 hours on 31 January, off the Vietnamese coast, a fire started in a cargo hold forward of the vessel’s accommodation block. The ship, in transit from China to Singapore, had to be partly evacuated then.The incident…

Maersk Line is expanding its commercial offering with the introduction of an extended liability solution, Value Protect, which will act as a substitute to regular cargo insurance, in protecting customers’ cargo."Maersk is expanding its commercial offering and introduces Value Protect, an extended liability solution. It offers customers an alternative to cargo insurance, increasing their chance of receiving full compensation in case of cargo damage in transit," said a press note from the Danish international container shipping company.Valid while the cargo is in the care and custody of Maersk, Value Protect covers cargo loss or damage in cases such as fire…

Efforts to suppress a fire on containership Maersk Honam continue more than a month after a blaze aboard the 15,000 TEU vessel killed five crew members. On March 6, a fire broke out in a cargo hold aboard Singapore-flagged Maersk Honam while the vessel was en route from Singapore toward Suez, about 900 nautical miles southeast of Salalah, Oman. At the time of the incident, the ship was carrying 7,860 containers for the 2M Alliance between Maersk Line and Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC).

The ocean freight industry has seen several major incidents over the past few weeks, including two fires on board two separate Maersk vessels, and a containership collision in Karachi Port that forced the temporary closure of the port. These incidents underscore the importance of always buying cargo insurance to protect merchandise and cushion damage, says Klaus Lysdal, Vice President of Sales and Operations at iContainers, a 100 percent online freight forwarder. The major fire…

A busy market, fraught with risk, needs specialized protection. The marine construction business is booming in the United States for many reasons. Nationwide, ports are expanding, deepening their channels to accommodate the bigger, so-called post-Panamax vessels. And, that means more than just deepening the channel. Docks, piers, cranes and other shoreside infrastructure need to be bolstered in order to stand up to heavier vessel impacts. Other infrastructure and bridges also need updating to be brought into the 21st century.

If you’ve been working in the marine insurance industry lately, you will have heard about “blockchain” at some point; it is the electronic, distributed ledger, notoriously known for enabling the use of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ether. But the blockchain technology’s utility goes beyond cryptocurrencies, potentially offering creative ways to solve other real-world problems. Within blockchain ledgers, the use of ‘smart’ contracts essentially converts contractual obligations into lines of computer protocols, which facilitate, verify, or enforce its performance.

BIMCO’s Documentary Committee, who met in Copenhagen yesterday, have agreed that all new and revised BIMCO charter parties and bills of lading will now refer to general average being adjusted in accordance with the new York-Antwerp Rules (YAR) 2016. The YAR 2016 were adopted by the Assembly of the Comité Maritime International (CMI) at its 42nd International Conference held last week in New York. The YAR 2016 largely reflect the YAR 1994, which BIMCO has to date recommended as the basis for general average adjustments, while containing some useful clarifications and additions such as on low value cargoes. Importantly, it has been agreed that an annual interest rate of LIBOR plus 4 percentage points applies according to the new rules…

In general, the International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) welcomes the revised York-Antwerp Rules (YAR 2016) which were adopted by the Comité Maritime International (CMI) at its conference in New York last week. The York-Antwerp Rules (YAR) is a set of rules by which General Average (GA) is adjusted (see detailed explanation in the notes below). IUMI has a particular interest in their content as, on average, the GA system increases the cost of maritime casualties by between 10%-30% largely due to interest (7% p.a. under the 1994 and 1974 YAR), commission (2%) on nearly all expenses and sacrifices, and adjusters' fees. The process of collecting GA security from all the cargo interests…

At the Comité Maritime International (CMI) Conference, in New York this week, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) will be pressing to ensure that the proposed revision of the York Antwerp Rules of General Average delivers a clear improvement on the present system and does not touch on fundamental principles. ‘General Average’ is a method of equitably allocating and spreading the costs of dealing with a maritime casualty among the parties that benefit from the ship and cargo being saved. The York Antwerp Rules set out rules for the distribution of losses and expenses, for example in incidents when cargo is jettisoned in order to save the ship and the remaining cargo.