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Proceedings News

25 Mar 2024

Greek Shipping Tycoon Wins in Legal Battle with Newcastle United Co-owner

© Alexandre Rotenberg / Adobe Stock

Newcastle United football club co-owner Amanda Staveley on Monday lost a London High Court battle with a Greek shipping tycoon over a historic debt of nearly 3.5 million pounds ($4.4 million).Staveley, who owns 10% of the Premier League side with her husband, denied she was liable to Victor Restis for a sum that had snowballed with interest to over 36 million pounds.The total bill had included around 31 million pounds in interest, accruing at 505,000 pounds per day. Restis' lawyers…

17 Mar 2024

Venture Global LNG to Buy Fleet of LNG Vessels

© Andriy Sharpilo / Adobe Stock

Venture Global LNG said on Sunday it would acquire a fleet of nine liquefied natural gas (LNG) transport vessels, expanding its ability to sell and ship its own cargoes.Venture Global LNG has exported hundreds of cargoes since it started liquefying gas for export in 2022 from the first of its three planned facilities in Louisiana. The vessels it used were owned by other companies and leased.The nine vessels in Venture Global's future fleet will be built in South Korea with the first to be delivered later this year…

12 Mar 2024

Nord Stream Sues Insurers in London Over 2022 Pipeline Blasts

© guteksk7 / Adobe Stock

Nord Stream is seeking more than 400 million euros ($436 million) from its insurers over explosions in 2022 which ruptured pipelines designed to transport Russian gas to Germany, court filings show.Nord Stream AG names Lloyd's Insurance Company and Arch Insurance (EU) DAC as defendants in its lawsuit, which was filed at London's High Court last month.Switzerland-based Nord Stream confirmed in an email there is a contractual dispute in London commercial courts between itself and insurers of the pipeline system."However…

21 Feb 2024

American Queen Voyages Up for Sale as Hornblower Gets New Majority Owner

(Credit: Hornblower Group)

A global alternative investment firm Strategic Value Partners has entered into agreement with Hornblower Group to acquire the majority ownership of the company in exchange for significant equity investment. As part of the agreement, Crestview Partners retained minority ownership in the business, and the decision was made to sell or wind down the company’s overnight cruises unit American Queen Voyages.Aside from significant minority stake in the business, Crestview will become the sole owner of Journey Beyond…

02 Feb 2024

Australian Livestock: Second Vessel Heads to Red Sea

Bahijah and Jawan in Fremantle (Source: Michael Mondello)

A ship carrying 16,000 sheep and cows that turned back from the Red Sea due to the risk of attack off Yemen was stranded at an Australian port in a heatwave on Friday as the exporter sought to offload at least some of the animals into quarantine.Meanwhile, another vessel carrying an even larger cargo - tens of thousands of animals - from Australia sailed for a Red Sea port in Jordan, with a contingency plan to unload them in the Gulf if it fails to obtain permission to enter the…

12 Jan 2024

Saipem Barred from Public Contracts in Brazil for 2 Years

(File photo: Saipem)

The Brazilian administrative authority has suspended Italy's Saipem and its subsidiary Saipem do Brasil from contracting with the country's public administration for two years, the engineering and construction group said on Friday.The decision stems from the final ruling in the administrative proceedings initiated against the companies in relation to alleged irregularities in the award of a gas pipeline contract in 2011.The sanction has no impact on ongoing projects in Brazil, Saipem said, adding it would appeal the decision.In November, the Italian company said it had won two offshore contrac

07 Dec 2023

Structural Safeguards in Coast Guard Suspension and Revocation Proceedings

Chief Judge Brudzinski has been an Administrative Law Judge with the U.S. Coast Guard since 2003 and its Chief Administrative Law Judge since 2013.  He has lectured extensively and has authored many articles on Coast Guard suspension and revocation proceedings for MarineLink publications, among others. The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect the official policy of the U.S. Coast Guard

This article examines 10 structural safeguards in Coast Guard Suspension and Revocation (S&R) Proceedings that ensure Coast Guard Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) decisional independence. These safeguards separate potential agency influences from the ALJ decision making process and are critical to mariner due process and fundamental fairness. We will start with an overview of Coast Guard S&R proceedings, followed by brief discussions of the Administrative Procedure Act, Administrative Law Judges, and U.S. Office of Personnel Management oversight.

16 Nov 2023

Court Battle Between Santos and Traditional Owners Continues

Source: Santos

Santos has issued a statement after the decision of the Federal Court of Australia on November 15 ruling that pipelay activities can commence on an 86-kilometer section of pipeline for the Barossa Gas Export Pipeline (GEP) – but not south of kilometre point 86 (KP86).This southern section would pass to the west of the Tiwi Islands.The Court has set December 4, 2023 as the date of commencement of the hearing of application brought by Jikilaruwu traditional owner Simon Munkara and…

09 Nov 2023

Shell Sues Greenpeace for Boarding Penguins FPSO While in Transit

©Greenpece

Shell is suing Greenpeace for $2.1 million in damages after the environmental group's activists boarded the company's oil production vessel in transit at sea this year, according to Greenpeace and a document seen by Reuters.The British oil and gas major filed the claim in London's High Court. Greenpeace activists boarded the vessel in January near the Canary Islands off the Atlantic coast of northern Africa to protest oil drilling and traveled on it as far as Norway.In an email to Reuters…

16 Oct 2023

Fearing China, South Korea Targets Contractors on Taiwan Navy Submarines

Credit: Taiwan President Website

South Korean authorities cited the risk of Chinese economic retaliation when they charged marine technology firm SI Innotec last year with violating trade laws for its work on Taiwan's new military submarine program, according to a police document seen by Reuters and two people familiar with the matter.In a Feb. 17, 2022, affidavit to a judge seeking the arrest of SI Innotec executive director Park Mal-sik, police said authorities feared a repeat of the sweeping sanctions imposed by Beijing in 2016, after Seoul decided to install THAAD, a U.S. anti-missile system.

05 Oct 2023

Milan Prosecutors Push for Fraud Trial Over Failed 2019 Eni Tanker Deal

Italian prosecutors have requested a former senior Eni employee, the now chief of a UK oil firm, and others be sent to trial for allegedly defrauding Eni over the attempted sale of an oil cargo to the company, a document from the Milan prosecutor's office shows.Sources previously told Reuters that the 2019 "White Moon" shipment of crude oil, purportedly from Iraq, created panic within Eni over fears it could be, at least partially, Iranian. Eni rejected the cargo, which it has said it bought from Nigerian firm Oando, who in turn bought the oil from the London branch of Italian fuel trading company Napag.Handling Iranian oil would have breached sanctions the United States reimposed in 2018 after quitting a nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.

07 Sep 2023

Four Former US Navy Officers Cleared in Fat Leonard Case Due to Prosecutor Misconduct

© de Art / Adobe Stock

Four former U.S. Navy officers charged in a massive bribery scandal linked to the man known as Fat Leonard were cleared of felony charges on Wednesday by a judge citing prosecutor misconduct.U.S. District Judge Janis Sammartino said in a sentencing hearing that prosecutors' conduct "can only be described as outrageous," the San Diego Union-Tribune reported from the courthouse. After the felony charges were cleared, the four former officers each pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor with only a $100 fine as punishment…

14 Aug 2023

FLNG Unit for BP's Tortue Ahmeyim Project Nearing Completion

Credit: BP

The Golar Gimi FLNG unit, being built for BP's Tortue Ahmeyim project in Senegal/Mauritania offshore area, is set to sail away next month.According to Golar LNG, tasked with delivering the unit, the FLNG Gimi conversion works 97% complete. Golar LNG said that FLNG Gimi was scheduled to leave the yard in September 2023. „Final checks, storing up and sea trials will then take place in Singapore ahead of her voyage to Mauritania and Senegal, expected to commence around the end of September/early October…

25 Jul 2023

CII – Time for a Rethink?

Photo copyright AdobeStock/fotohansel

Without a radical new approach, BIMCO’s CII Operations Clause will remain a worthy but vain attempt to reconcile shipping’s environmental and commercial imperatives,Legal and contractual disputes lie ahead for shipping unless it finds a better compromise between owners and charterers to sustain the International Maritime Organization’s Carbon Intensity Index (CII).Entering into force on 1 January 2023, the CII relates primarily to the way in which ships are operated and the resulting CO2 emissions.

10 Jul 2023

Iran Accuses US Navy of Defending Fuel Smuggling in Gulf Incident

© MasterSergeant / Adobe Stock

An Iranian Revolutionary Guards Commander accused the U.S. Navy on Monday of defending fuel smuggling in the Gulf by trying to interfere when Iran intercepted a ship last week."On July 6th, Revolutionary Guards' Navy personnel were inspecting a ship with the name NADA 2 that was involved in smuggling Iranian oil and gas in the Persian Gulf, which the Americans sought to prevent through a series of unprofessional and risky actions," IRGC Commander Ramazan Zirrahi said in comments reported by Iran's Tasnim news agency.On July 7th…

07 Jul 2023

Chevron Says Its Managed Tanker Not Involved in Collision

© Sundry Photography / Adobe Stock

The Bahamas-flagged Richmond Voyager was not involved in any collision in the Gulf, its manager, U.S. oil major Chevron, told Reuters on Friday, after Iran said it had a court order to seize the vessel.The U.S. Navy said on Wednesday that it had intervened to prevent Iran from seizing two commercial tankers including the Richmond Voyager in the Gulf of Oman, in the latest in a series of attacks on ships in the area since 2019.Iranian naval personnel had fired multiple, long bursts…

25 May 2023

US Coast Guard Ready to Move New Anti-SASH Policy

(Credit: Deven Leigh Ellis / U.S. Navy)

In May, the U.S. Coast Guard will start a strengthened and pointedly direct anti-SASH campaign that will extend across the maritime industry. SASH is an acronym for sexual assault/sexual harassment, and this new effort adds muscle to Marine Safety Information Bulletin (MSIB Number: 1-23) "Reporting Sexual Misconduct on U.S. Vessels" released in February. The new bulletin supersedes a previous one from late 2021.USCG personnel will be very deliberate in making sure that all maritime operators are aware of MSIB 1-23. The core message: report all sexual misconduct and harassment.

13 Apr 2023

Employers Say Union is Disrupting Work at Southern California Seaports

© angeldibilio / Adobe Stock

The Pacific Maritime Association on Thursday said the largest longshore union local on the West Coast disrupted work at the nation's busiest seaport complex for the second week in a row, as labor talks covering 22,000 dockworkers from California to Washington state approach the one-year mark.Frustration is growing over the lack of resolution in the talks, which started in May.

07 Apr 2023

Swedish Prosecutor Believes State Actor Behind Nord Stream Pipeline Blasts

©The gas leak from the September 2022 Nord Stream gas pipeline measured over 950 meters in diameter.- ©Swedish Coast Guard

A state actor's involvement in the blast of the Nord Stream pipelines last year is the "absolute main scenario", though confirming identity will prove difficult, the Swedish prosecutor investigating the attack said on Thursday.In September 2022, several unexplained underwater explosions ruptured the Nord Stream 1 and newly-built Nord Stream 2 pipelines that link Russia and Germany across the Baltic Sea. The blasts occurred in the economic zones of Sweden and Denmark and both countries say the explosions were deliberate, but have yet to determine who was responsible.

21 Feb 2023

Spain Detains Oil Tanker Over Mediterranean Fuel Spill

(Photo: Spanish Ministry of Transport)

Spain has detained and fined a Maltese-flagged oil tanker it says discharged oil in open waters near the northeastern port city of Tarragona, a transport ministry department said.Spain's Mediterranean and Atlantic coastlines have become hubs for shipping activity including the transfer of oil known as ship-to-ship (STS) operations, which industry sources say are becoming an increasing safety concern.Spanish authorities said they had intercepted the Lagertha after a discharge of hydrocarbons was detected by aircraft sensors and satellite radar on Feb.

02 Feb 2023

'Spirit of Norfolk' Fire Hearing Concludes

Capt. Ryan Nadeau, master of the Spirit of Norfolk, delivers his testimony during a formal hearing regarding the events of the Spirit of Norfolk vessel fire Jan. 27, 2023 in Virginia Beach, Va. (Photo: Edward Wargo / U.S. Coast Guard)

The U.S. Coast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board concluded the formal public hearing proceedings into the fire and total constructive loss of the passenger vessel Spirit of Norfolk Feb. 2, 2023.The joint investigation team reviewed and considered evidence related to the fire and total constructive loss of the passenger vessel, which occurred on June 7, 2022.The investigation team heard from 23 witnesses who provided testimony into pre-accident historical events, regulatory compliance…

29 Dec 2022

Brazil's Haunting Graveyard of Ships Risks Environmental Disaster, Warns Activist Group

© eduarda rocha/EyeEm / Adobe Stock

On a stormy evening in mid-November, a huge, abandoned cargo ship broke free of its moorings and slowly floated into the massive concrete bridge that carries cars across Brazil's Guanabara Bay to Rio de Janeiro.Brazil's navy said the 200-meter-long (660-ft.) Sao Luiz, a rust-spattered bulk carrier built in 1994, had been anchored in the bay for more than six years awaiting legal proceedings before it crashed into Latin America's longest over-water bridge. The navy said it was investigating."The Sao Luiz is still in the Port of Rio today…

19 Dec 2022

Shipbuilding: Can I Have A Refund?

© Dmitry / Adobe Stock

In Havila Kystruten AS v Abarca Compania de Seguros AS,¹ in which Watson Farley & Williams LLP represented the successful Norwegian shipowner, an English court has provided helpful and very detailed guidance on a number of issues relating to the parties’ rights to terminate shipbuilding contracts as well as the nature and scope of refund guarantees.BackgroundRefund guarantees are the lifeblood of shipbuilding, providing invaluable security to owners/buyers who must usually cash fund a significant proportion of the price of newbuildings during the construction phase (usually at least 40%)…