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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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Tuesday, 22 April 14
INDONESIAN MARCH COAL EXPORT VOLUME SURGE 9.12% TO 35.54 MMT
COALspot.com: Indonesia, one of the world's largest coal producer and the global largest multi grade coal exporter shipped around $1.9 ...
Tuesday, 22 April 14
NEWCASTLE WEEKLY COAL EXPORTS FELL 13.33% THIS PAST WEEK
COALspot.com: In the week ended 07:00 hours 21 April 2014, power plant and semi-soft coking coal shipments from the port of Newcastle in Queensl ...
Monday, 21 April 14
Q1'15 SUB-BIT FOB INDONESIA COAL SWAP SHOWING A POSITIVE TREND
COALspot.com: Indonesian coal swaps for average Q2’ 2014 gain on month and on week according to AsiaClear OTC coal swap's reports rele ...
Monday, 21 April 14
Q4 2014 AND Q1 2015 COAL SWAPS CLOSED MARGINALLY HIGHER COMPARED TO Q2 PRICES
COALspot.com: API 8 CFR South China Coal swaps for average Q2 14 deliveries gained 0.87 percent month on month and closed at US$ 76.15 per mt as ...
Monday, 21 April 14
DRY BULK MARKET UPS AND - MOST RECENTLY - DOWNS OFFERS NO ROOM FOR RELAXING AMONG DRY BULK SHIP OWNERS - NIKOS ROUSSANOGLOU, HELLENIC SHIPPING NEWS
The dry bulk market's latest demise, with the market retrating once again, since the end of March, has come at a time, when most ship owners ...
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- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- The University of Queensland
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- PTC India Limited - India
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Australian Coal Association
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Planning Commission, India
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- White Energy Company Limited
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- ASAPP Information Group - India
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