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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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Friday, 25 April 14
2ND MYANMAR ELECTRIC POWER CONVENTION 2014 IS THE GATEWAY TO MYANMAR POWER INDUSTRY!
Press Release: 2nd Myanmar Electric Power Convention (MEPC) 2014 is scheduled on 21-23 October, 2014 at Traders Hotel in Yangon, Myanmar. MEPC o ...
Friday, 25 April 14
DRY BULK MARKET LOOKING FOR NEW TRACTION - NIKOS ROUSSANOGLOU, HELLENIC SHIPPING NEWS
The dry bulk market seems to have gained its footing after the past few dissapointing weeks, during which the Baltic Dry Index (BDI) shedded mos ...
Thursday, 24 April 14
HANDY : A FLOW OF FRESH REQUIREMENTS LIFTING THE PACIFIC SLOWLY TO US$ 10-11 K BSS SINGAPORE FOR COAL ROUNDS
Handy
There is still no place to hide in the Atlantic for the smaller but flexible sizes. Slow and weak seems to be the headlines, although th ...
Wednesday, 23 April 14
EUROPE WOULD BE HARD PRESSED TO REPLACE RUSSIAN GAS, FITCH RATINGS SAYS
A ban on Russian gas imports to the EU would cause substantial disruption to Europe's economy and industry, Fitch Ratings says. In the immed ...
Wednesday, 23 April 14
KOMIPO INVITES BIDS FOR LOW VOLATILE BITUMINOUS COAL
COALspot.com : Korea Midland Power Co., Ltd. has invited bids through International open bidding for 90,000 Metric Tons (MT) of low volatile bit ...
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- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- PTC India Limited - India
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Economic Council, Georgia
- The University of Queensland
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Planning Commission, India
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Australian Coal Association
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- White Energy Company Limited
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
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