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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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Sunday, 20 April 14
FREIGHT RATES END WEEK ON WEAK NOTE - VISTAAR
Wish you all Happy Easter.
The freight market continued to its downwards as BDI was fell 7.187 percent to 930 points week on week.
The ...
Friday, 18 April 14
US WEEKLY COAL PRODUCTION DECLINED BY 1% TO 18.9 MMST
COALspot.com – United States the world's second largest coal producer, produced approximately 18.9 million short tons (mmst) of coal i ...
Thursday, 17 April 14
DRY BULK MARKET ON RETREAT MODE, WHILE NEWBUILDING ORDERING ACTIVITY STALLS - NIKOS ROUSSANOGLOU, HELLENIC SHIPPING NEWS
The dry bulk market has kept on retreating this week, a pattern which emerged since late March. Yesterday the BDI (Baltic Dry Index) ended yet a ...
Wednesday, 16 April 14
INDONESIA'S FEBRUARY 2014 COAL EXPORT VOLUME FELL 2.41%
COALspot.com: Indonesia, the world 4th largest coal producer and the global largest multi grade coal exporter shipped around $1.77* billio ...
Wednesday, 16 April 14
Q1 2014 : TERMS OF FREIGHT RATES THE PERFORMANCE IN THE DRY BULK MARKET HAS NOT MET THE HIGH EXPECTATIONS - INTERMODAL
This year the dates for the celebration of Easter will coincide for the Orthodox and the Catholic, so we are already seeing most people in the m ...
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- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Planning Commission, India
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- Australian Coal Association
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- The University of Queensland
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- PTC India Limited - India
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Parliament of New Zealand
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- White Energy Company Limited
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
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