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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, 18 March 14
NEWCASTLE COAL EXPORT VOLUME FALLS 26.23% WEEK ON WEEK
COALspot.com: In the week ended 17 March 2014, power plant and semi-soft coking coal shipments from the port of Newcastle in Queensland, total 2 ...
Monday, 17 March 14
API 8 CFR SOUTH CHINA COAL SWAPS FOR AVERAGE Q2 14 DELIVERIES LOST 2.59% M-O-M
COALspot.com: API 8 CFR South China Coal swaps for average Q2 14 deliveries lost 2.59 percent month on month and closed at US$ 74.15 per mt as o ...
Sunday, 16 March 14
BDI DOWN ON LOW CAPESIZE ACTIVITY
COALspot.com: The freight market was slightly soft this week with BDI down by 4.28 pct week on week. The BDI closed at 1,477 points and the cape ...
Friday, 14 March 14
DRY BULK MARKET ENTERS RECOVERY MODE, ON INCREASED CAPESIZE DEMAND - NIKOS ROUSSANOGLOU, HELLENIC SHIPPING NEWS
The dry bulk market has entered and sustained higher ground as of this week, on the back on increased Capesize demand. Although the situation in ...
Friday, 14 March 14
US, THE WORLD'S SECOND LARGEST COAL PRODUCER MINED 75.3 MMST OF COAL IN FEBRUARY; DOWN 10.88% M-M
COALspot.com – United States the world’s second largest coal producer, produced approximately 18.7 million short tons (mmst) of coal ...
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- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- The University of Queensland
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Planning Commission, India
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- VISA Power Limited - India
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- White Energy Company Limited
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- PTC India Limited - India
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Australian Coal Association
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Posco Energy - South Korea
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