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Thursday, 08 May 14
'TRIAL BY MEDIA, TRIAL BY LAW' - A REPORT FROM TRACK 1 OF BIMCO'S ANNUAL CONFERENCE DUBAI 2014
 KNOWLEDGE TO ELEVATE
Aiming to bring a very different type of event into their annual conference, BIMCO presented ‘Double Jeopardy – ‘Trial by Media, Trial by Law*’, simulating a marine casualty and arbitration to delegates at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Dubai. A professional, innovative and creative production not only gave a realistic portrayal of the events following a maritime casualty but enabled the audience to participate with well posed questions by way of interactive voting meters.
Based on a true event, this realistic account of a maritime casualty was narrated by Lindsay East, Consultant, Reed Smith, London. The vessel ‘Idle Star’ having loaded with sugar in Thailand and heading to the discharge port, had grounded on a river bed on the West Coast of California in an area of natural beauty. While there were no human casualties, there was a significant bunker spill and with a fast flowing river the environmental implications to wildlife and the local community were huge.
As the story unfolded, the owner representative, played by John Tsatsas from London and the charterers representative played by Han van Blanken from Rotterdam, portrayed each stage from the initial Captain’s call. With the initial limited information, the chain of events were shown to unfold as the owner and charterer brought in assistance and sought advice from P&I, lawyers, classification society, hull and machinery insurers, local agents and representatives and demonstrated how the process evolved as more information became available, giving an overview of the practicalities involved in the process. The expert advice to the owner and charterer was provided by video clips of real practitioners in conversation with the two stage actors.
The casualty centred on whether the destination port was ‘safe’. It was known to have a low draft and underwater obstructions that shifted and were uncharted. The vessel therefore had to not only be of certain specification when laden but also the conditions of making the final part of the voyage through those water needed to be assessed with the latest information available to see if the port was suitable for discharge. The owners proceeded to complete the voyage and the vessel ran aground so who was liable? The Master for proceeding with the voyage despite concerns or the charterer for the choice of a difficult destination with the cargo in mind?
With neither the owner or charterer accepting liability and indeed blaming each other, this session focussed on two areas; media and how if not handled correctly incidents can become a media and public relations nightmare and legal arbitration, examining the legalities of the charter agreement and how this would be dealt with by the legal system.
The morning session focussed on ‘Trial by Media’ and with neither party having any crisis management or PR in place, the simulated public backlash of the environmentalists, shrimp farmers and the local community as pollution grew, quickly escalated without an appropriate, measured response. Julian Bray, Tradewinds Editor-in-chief portrayed the media, keen for a story, blame and clearly supporting the affected parties who were keen for compensation.
The clear message of the morning session was that handling media during such an incident is a serious matter and can easily spiral out of control. Media will always seek to sensationalise and exploit sensitive areas and it is very easy to say the wrong things however well intentioned. Advice was to be well prepared, seeking professional crisis management to enable you to get every step right and above all, be honest. By knowing the all facts, you can provide just enough factual information and slow the media frenzy down.
The afternoon session ‘Trial by Law’ consisted of a panel of three maritime arbitrators, presided by Jude Benny, from Singapore, Bruce Harris from London and Jack Warfield from New York.
The owner sought indemnity from the charterer and the case was to ascertain whether the port was unsafe, whether the charterer was in breach of the agreement by ordering the ship to go there and whether that caused the loss.
Chirag Karia, a QC from London, counsel for the owner, put forward a strong case after witness testimonies that the owner had expressed concerns to the charterer which has gone unresolved. There had been correspondence regarding the draft of the port and that the waters were uncharted and the charterer had been asked to arrange lightening and/or a harmless agreement to indemnify the owner from any losses should there be a problem. The charterer did not lighten and was confident there would be no issue with the voyage, however did not confirm any harmless agreement which the owner assumed from their conversations. He argued that by sending the vessel to its destination the charterers were sending the vessel to an unsafe port and the owners had been commercially pressured to continue.
Nevil Phillips a barrister from London, counsel for the charterer, argued the defence with regard to whether the port was safe at the time of nomination and that the owners had a responsibility to ensure the vessel was laden appropriately to ensure safe passage. The owners should have reduced the cargo and taken further action to avoid such an incident and the Master was negligent in not doing so, causing the vessel to ground. Ultimately it was the owner’s decision to continue with the voyage with the known risks and any negligence by the Master obliterates any question of safety.
The arbitrators retired to consider their findings, each from the perspective of their own jurisdictions, and the audience were able to vote on their own judgment, finding in favour of the owner. However on returning the arbitrators, giving three separate judgments found in favour of the charterer by two to one on the basis that the grounding was found to be in general down to the Master’s negligence. Jude Benny summing up said “There were sufficient red light warnings and with good seamanship this could have been avoided.”
There was a lively question and answer session to close the session and attendees found the day both enlightening and informative. The new style of interactive session proved popular with attendees and the final vote was to definitely repeat such an event next time.
Source: BIMCO / Hellenic Shipping
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Thursday, 15 May 14
USA COAL CONFERENCE
Press Release: IHS Inc. (NYSE: IHS), the leading global source of information and analysis, will host the Coal USA Conference, June 18-20, 2014, ...
Wednesday, 14 May 14
COAL PRICES IN CHINA HAVE DROPPED TO THEIR LOWEST LEVELS SINCE END-2008
COALspot.com: Coal prices in China have dropped to their lowest levels since end-2008, Fitch says in its latest rating report on one of the coal ...
Wednesday, 14 May 14
ALMOST THROUGH THE HALF OF THE YEAR, THE DRY BULK INDEX SHOW SIGNS OF WEAKNESS; CREATING TO BOTH EXISTING SHIP OWNERS AND POTENTIAL INVESTORS A LOT OF INSECURITY - PANOS MAKRINOS
Almost through the half of the year, the overall shipping market and more specifically the Dry Bulk Index show signs of weakness, creating to bo ...
Tuesday, 13 May 14
NPC COAL EXPORT VOLUMES PLUNGE TO 2.48 MMT WEEK ON WEEK
COALspot.com: In the week ended 07:00 hours 12 May 2014, power plant and semi-soft coking coal shipments from the port of Newcastle in Quee ...
Tuesday, 13 May 14
YET ANOTHER POSIDONIA EXHIBITION IS ON ITS WAY - INTERMODAL
With less than a month to go before another Posidonia exhibition starts and all the parties and celebrations get under way we thought that it wo ...
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- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- White Energy Company Limited
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Australian Coal Association
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- The University of Queensland
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Planning Commission, India
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- PTC India Limited - India
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
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