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Sunday, 07 April 19
SHIP PASSAGE PLANS - NO ROOM FOR ERROR! - WATSON FARLEY & WILLIAMS
 KNOWLEDGE TO ELEVATE
The English High Court’s judgment in Alize 1954 v Allianz Elementar Versicherungs AG (The CMA CGM Libra) is an important decision involving the application of longstanding principles as to a shipowner’s liability for actionable fault following a casualty. In finding that a defective passage plan rendered a vessel unseaworthy, the English High Court has demonstrated how traditional tests will be applied to update the law into the modern day world.
Prior to this decision, there had been no case whereby a defective passage plan rendered a vessel unseaworthy. However, it is now clear that just as the standard of seaworthiness must rise with improved knowledge of shipbuilding, so must the standard of seaworthiness rise with improved knowledge of the documents required to be prepared to ensure safe navigation. Following the IMO’s recognition in 1999 of the need for passage planning to be adopted by “all ships engaged on international voyages”, The CMA CGM Libra shows that by 2011 the English courts expected an adequate passage plan to have been prepared. If it was defective, the consequences could be severe.
The Case
The case concerned a laden container vessel which grounded by virtue of the master negligently navigating outside of the buoyed fairway when leaving the port of Xiamen in China. The owner had known this to be a difficult port to navigate, especially as various Notices to Mariners had been issued advising that areas existed in the Xiamen Gang (though not in the fairway) that had depths less than those charted.
Cargo interests refused to pay the owner their proportion of the total claim in general average and denied liability under Article III r.1 of the Hague Rules on the basis that the casualty was caused by the owner’s actionable fault. In particular, they alleged that the vessel was unseaworthy because she had an inadequate passage plan, that inadequacy was a cause of the casualty and due diligence was not exercised by the owner to make the vessel seaworthy.
The Decision
Before considering the substantive matters of unseaworthiness, causation and due diligence, Mr Justice Teare addressed the issue of which party bears the burden of proof in relation to Article III r.1. He affirmed the conventional view that the burden lies on the cargo interests to establish that the vessel was unseaworthy and such unseaworthiness caused the grounding. If those matters are established, the burden then lies on the owners to prove that due diligence was exercised to make the vessel seaworthy.
Unseaworthiness
Mr Justice Teare held that neither the formal passage plan, nor the working chart, contained the necessary warning of the potential danger arising outside the buoyed fairway from the existence of areas with lower depths than charted. The necessary warning should have been such that, when the navigator was faced with a decision whether to remain in the buoyed fairway or to navigate outside, he had in mind the warning that charted depths outside the buoyed fairway may be unreliable.
The judge affirmed that the long-established and authoritative test of unseaworthiness is whether a prudent owner would have required the relevant defect, had he known of it, to be made good before sending his ship to sea. He found it inconceivable that a prudent owner would allow the vessel to depart from Xiamen with a passage plan that lacked the necessary warning, especially given that IMO Resolution of 1999 states that a “well planned voyage” is of “essential importance for safety of life at sea, safety of navigation and protection of the marine environment”.
The owner argued that passage planning is simply the preparation for safe navigation and is not itself an aspect of seaworthiness. In making these arguments, the owner sought to benefit from the negligent navigation exception under Article IV r.2(a) of the Hague Rules, which provides that (assuming there is no failure by the owners to make the vessel seaworthy) a shipowner will not be responsible for loss caused by neglect in the “navigation or in the management of the ship”.
However, Mr Justice Teare rejected this, stating that seaworthiness extends to having the appropriate documentation on board, including the appropriate charts. Firstly, he noted that Article III r.1 places a seaworthiness obligation upon the shipowner “before and at the beginning of the voyage” and that passage planning before the beginning of the voyage is necessary for safe navigation during voyage. Secondly, he pointed out that it is well recognised that if a vessel’s charts are not up to date that is an “attribute” of the vessel which can render her unseaworthy – and that a proper passage plan is now like an up to date and properly corrected chart.
Mr Justice Teare also suggested that a “one-off” failure to correct a chart in a material manner before the beginning of the voyage is capable of rendering a vessel unseaworthy, even if the shipowner has put in place proper systems to ensure that the prerequisite materials were on board to prepare an adequate chart. He explained that concentrating upon the shipowner’s own actions to the exclusion of those of his servants or agents, confuses the issue of seaworthiness with the issue of due diligence, which in any event is a non-delegable duty.
Finally, Mr Justice Teare observed that the negligent navigation exception applied only to Article III r.2 and not Article III r.1. Therefore, a shipowner will not be protected from liability for failing to exercise due diligence to make the vessel seaworthy by the fact that a cause of the casualty was negligent navigation.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this case found that an appropriate passage plan is a matter of seaworthiness under Article III r.1 of the Hague Rules. This is not the type of chart that might traditionally have been expected to affect the seaworthiness of a vessel, especially as a passage plan relates principally to navigation of the ship. Nevertheless, following this judgment, shipowners will have to ensure that, through its agents and servants, due diligence is exercised to produce a non-defective passage plan that clearly contains the necessary warnings. Failure to do so, if causative of a casualty, will not be saved by the negligent navigation exception under Article IV r 2(a) of the Hague Rules, which cannot be applied where a shipowner has failed to exercise due diligence to make the vessel seaworthy.
Source: Watson Farley & Williams
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Wednesday, 10 April 19
KOSPO INVITED BIDS FOR 160K MT OF MIN. 3700 NCV COAL FOR JUNE LOADING
COALspot.com: South Korea state-owned utility Korea Southern Power Co. Ltd (KOSPO) issued a tender for 160,000 MT of min. 3,800 Kcal/kg ~max.4,100 ...
Wednesday, 10 April 19
CHINA'S GROWING THERMAL COAL SUPPLY TO PRESSURE EXPORTERS - FITCH RATINGS
Growing Chinese thermal coal supply is likely to lead to further tightening of import controls by the government, putting pressure on seaborne coal ...
Wednesday, 10 April 19
SHIPPING MARKET INSIGHT - INTERMODAL
The tragedy in Brazil’s Vale Brumadinho where a tailings dam collapsed in January ranks among the world’s worst mining disasters. It co ...
Monday, 08 April 19
5TH INDIA NUCLEAR NEW BUILD CONGRESS 2019
5th India Nuclear New Build Congress 2019
The congress in Mumbai aims to bring together representatives from governments, regulators ...
Monday, 08 April 19
THERMAL COAL PRICES FALL, INDIAN POWER PLANTS TO SEE LIMITED GAINS - BUSINESS STANDARD
Thermal coal prices are on a downward spiral globally. Australian coal prices have fallen nearly 20 per cent in the past week, and 40 per cent from ...
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Showing 1426 to 1430 news of total 6871 |
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- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Australian Coal Association
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- PTC India Limited - India
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- The University of Queensland
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- White Energy Company Limited
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Planning Commission, India
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
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